Opening ceremony of the 9th China International Software & Information Service Fair.

An annual software and information technology gathering, in the city of Dalian, is helping form a bond between government, academia, and industry.

The 9th China International Software & Information Service Fair, which opened yesterday in this eastern coastal city in Liaoning province, runs for four days and is expected to attract government representatives and companies from more than 20 countries and regions.

It has more than 800 exhibitors, who include global leaders such as Intel, Microsoft, SAP, IBM, Cisco, Genpact, Oracle, Dell, HP, BT, NEC, Fujitsu, NTT and Sony, to be found in the "IT multinational companies gallery".

The Chinese companies include Neusoft, Ufsoft, Founder Software, Tsinghua Tongfang and Rising, and the nation's top three telecom operators - China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom.

There are around 1,000 new products, solutions, services, and technologies on display, the organizers have said.

A highlight of this year's fair is the main forum, on June 16, with the theme "Green IT, smart application", where government representatives, enterprises, and academics sat down and talked about global IT trends.

Government and industry representatives from the US, France, India, Japan and South Korea are expected to speak at the summit, where visitors can hear the latest from executives of Intel, IBM, Cisco, SAP, Hitachi, Neosoft, Ufsoft, Hisoft and China National Software & Service.

June 17 to 18, there are nine plenary sessions, each focusing on a different topic, such as innovation, funding, outsourcing, talent training, policies, project management, intellectual property and overseas strategies.

There will also be time for one-to-one talks between the Chinese and foreign counterparts, leaving room for real trade opportunities.

Local benefit

Dalian itself has benefited a lot from this fair. The first was held in 2003, and the city's software and service industry has grown about 40 percent every year, since that time.

Last year, the sector generated 53.5 billion yuan in sales, a year-on-year increase of 34 percent. Exports in the industry rose 29 percent, to $1.8 billion.

Dalian now has over 900 software companies, about 60 of them on the Fortune 500. The sector employs more than 100,000 people, compared with just 3,000 a few years ago.

As more overseas companies come to the fair and sign contracts with the Chinese, Dalian becomes more international in its outsourcing and more recognized worldwide, said Liu Dechun, chief of the organizing committee and head of Dalian's foreign trade and economic cooperation bureau.

The software sector has also seen improvements in recent years, going from simple OEM to the upper end of the value chain with more advanced work like solutions design, advanced product R&D, and finance services, Liu said.

Local officials have said they believe the city will stay in the fast lane in its foreign trade. The goal is an annual increase of 20 percent in international service trade and 30 percent in offshore outsourcing.

They are looking for $100 billion in exports and imports by 2015 and a foreign capital influx of $30 billion between 2011 and 2015.

(China Daily 06/17/2011 page15)