China's Seattle kicks it into high gear
- By Cam MacMurchy
- Published March 2, 2008
- Business
- Unrated
DALIAN, China - It's often discussed by expats here how difficult it is to get people in our home countries to understand the magnitude of change occurring in China. Despite the coming Olympics and growing news coverage of Chinese affairs, old stereotypes persist.
"We've had people show up here expecting to see dusty streets and Chinese farmers in pointy hats," said Victor Jansson, who works in the business development division of the Dalian Software Park. It's his job to promote China's biggest software park, and wining and dining first-time visitors from around the world is part of his job.
Dalian is off the radar for most people, a city that most have either never heard of or have no idea of its whereabouts. For the record, it's on a peninsula about an hour flight northeast of Beijing, and this scenic waterfront city is continually rated as China's most livable.
Dalian is making a name for itself as China's outsourcing headquarters. According to the vice-president of the China Sourcing website, which works to link Chinese providers with overseas buyers, China drew just over $2 billion US last year in revenue from the outsourcing industry, compared to India's $40 billion.
But the industry in China is on a strong upward trajectory thanks to a high number of low-cost talent with strong university educations and good English skills. The average salary of an IT professional is under $500 US a month.
British Telecommunications opened in the park last September, and it's gone so well they have since put a claim on another building for planned expansion. BT has joined HP, GE, IBM, Sony, Dell, Toshiba, and others who are already in the park, bringing the total to nearly 400 companies.
The first and second phases of the park are complete, and cover more than three square kilometres. When everything is finished -- including two new huge developments and a resort and leisure area for employees -- it will spread out over 30 square kilometres, taking up roughly half of Dalian.
"Clients are shocked when they arrive to see state-of-the-art technologies, beautiful offices, and well-dressed staff speaking perfect English," Jansson notes, which makes his job of selling the zone a whole lot easier.
Although once one sees Dalian, most of the sales job is already complete.
Continue reading the article here.
"We've had people show up here expecting to see dusty streets and Chinese farmers in pointy hats," said Victor Jansson, who works in the business development division of the Dalian Software Park. It's his job to promote China's biggest software park, and wining and dining first-time visitors from around the world is part of his job.
Dalian is off the radar for most people, a city that most have either never heard of or have no idea of its whereabouts. For the record, it's on a peninsula about an hour flight northeast of Beijing, and this scenic waterfront city is continually rated as China's most livable.
Dalian is making a name for itself as China's outsourcing headquarters. According to the vice-president of the China Sourcing website, which works to link Chinese providers with overseas buyers, China drew just over $2 billion US last year in revenue from the outsourcing industry, compared to India's $40 billion.
But the industry in China is on a strong upward trajectory thanks to a high number of low-cost talent with strong university educations and good English skills. The average salary of an IT professional is under $500 US a month.
British Telecommunications opened in the park last September, and it's gone so well they have since put a claim on another building for planned expansion. BT has joined HP, GE, IBM, Sony, Dell, Toshiba, and others who are already in the park, bringing the total to nearly 400 companies.
The first and second phases of the park are complete, and cover more than three square kilometres. When everything is finished -- including two new huge developments and a resort and leisure area for employees -- it will spread out over 30 square kilometres, taking up roughly half of Dalian.
"Clients are shocked when they arrive to see state-of-the-art technologies, beautiful offices, and well-dressed staff speaking perfect English," Jansson notes, which makes his job of selling the zone a whole lot easier.
Although once one sees Dalian, most of the sales job is already complete.
Continue reading the article here.
