Chinese companies' investment in imformation technology still low
( 2001-12-20 11:23 ) (1 )

Investment in information technology (IT) by Chinese enterprises is at a minuscule level, according to an official survey released on Wednesday.

The State Economic and Trade Commission survey found that the surveyed enterprises' investment in computers, information management and computer-aided systems accounted for just 0.21 per cent of their overall assets in the period from 1995 to last year.

In developed countries, large companies will put between 8 and 10 per cent of its overall assets into IT.

Experts partly attributed the disparity to the old way of thinking of Chinese entrepreneurs.

Zhang Weiying, a professor at Peking University, said: "Most Chinese people, including entrepreneurs, need a revolution to innovate their ideas."

The university's Research Centre for E-business, which Zhang heads, helped the commission conduct the survey in the first half of this year.

Zhang said: "The government should act as a pushing force in the endeavour."

He added that large State-owned enterprises made up the bulk of the firms surveyed.

Commission spokesman Hou Yunchun said small and medium-sized enterprises invested even less in information industry.

Hou said: "The survey focuses mainly on large State-owned enterprises, and the overall picture of State enterprises (in this regard) is even appalling."

About 1,300 questionnaires were distributed for the survey and 638 enterprises replied.

Enterprises involved in aviation, electronics, railways and tobacco invested more than other enterprises, according to the survey. And private companies placed more emphasis on information industry than State-owned enterprises.

The survey said: "Most surveyed enterprises expressed a willingness to make good use of the Internet but the reality is not so encouraging."

More than 80 per cent of the 638 enterprises that responded have already installed the Internet and nearly 70 per cent have their own websites, the survey discovered.

Out of the 638 enterprises, only 26 had made any purchases over the Internet and 22 had sold their products via the Internet.

The survey found that many enterprises were quite interested in e-commerce but some managerial staff were indifferent to it.

Zhang said: "This is one challenge we face in the coming e-commerce campaign."