Society slowly forming around Guiyang's tech ambitions

Michael Wang. [Photo by Yang Jun/China Daily]

Others like entrepreneur Michael Wang say due to its geographical location, it is hard to develop Guizhou as an agricultural or manufacturing base. Technology is a safer bet.

The data industry in China is likely to be valued at 6 trillion yuan or so by 2020.

"The demand for people in the sector will rise by 30 percent in the coming years," Lian says, adding that more than 50,000 people work in the industry in Guiyang today.

"There's a shortage of talent locally," he adds.

Wang, 38, worked as a banker in Australia for 13 years before he and four friends decided to open the Golden Stand Financial Technology company a year ago. With the Shenzhen-listed Longmaster Information & Technology Co Ltd as a major investor, Golden Stand is already looking at a profit of 5 million yuan by the end of the year.

Wang's company processes data for clients such as banks and financial institutions to help them develop financial products.

"The Chinese FIs have started to reform－that offers (us) a lot of opportunities," Wang says, sitting in his office that overlooks an arty basketball court in Guiyang's new high-tech area.

While most of the dozens of employees in his company are from Guizhou, some have come from Beijing and Shenzhen city in southern Guangdong province. Among the foreign faces is software developer Nirmal Kumar, who used to live in Bangalore, a city dubbed India's Silicon Valley.

"China is encouraging people to do startups," Wang says.

Yang Jun and Dong Xianwu contributed to this story.