The value of the deal, which requires government approval, was not revealed. SunGard, however, said it would have an "absolute controlling stake" in the new firm, SunGard Kingstar.

Fudan Kingstar was established in 1995 by several Fudan graduates with 60 million yuan (US$8.33 million) in registered capital. It now serves 400 clients in China, including the country's top five financial exchanges and banks. Its revenue was 70 million yuan in 2004, the latest figure available.

After the acquisition, SunGard Kingstar will sell IT systems and services to stock exchanges, the coming equity index futures market and banks and risk management for social security funds, according to Zhou Hua, president of SunGard Kingstar.

"China is undergoing financial reform, and the IT infrastructure level lags far behind demand," Zhou said. "There's an urgent need as the banking sector opens to foreign companies and the country plans to launch more financial derivative services."

SanGard will bring the company rich experience and the latest technology to serve Chinese clients, Zhou said.

Equity-index futures contracts, scheduled to debut in the first quarter next year, will give investors tools to hedge risks.

China's financial sector IT spending reached 27.5 billion yuan last year, compared with 26 billion yuan in 2004, according to CCW Research, a Beijing-based IT research firm.

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