BEIJING, Nov. 23 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- The Zhongguancun Software
Association (Zsoft), an independent body looking after the interest of the
5,000 software SMEs in the ‘Silicon Valley of China’, today announced that
the 4th Outsourcing Summit of the Zhongguancun Software Association, held on
November 23, echoed the growing importance of branding for Zsoft and member
companies who are expanding software and service business internationally,
with branding becoming a key development point as the capital city looks
towards the 2008 Olympics.
(Logo: http://www.prnasia.com/sa/200611231224.jpg )
Bin Yu, President of Zsoft, stated, “China is now a bright spot in the
world arena, but there are few in the US IT offshore sourcing business that
are aware that Beijing-based Zhongguancun is the brightest spot. There is
now a compelling need for us to support the Chinese government in a concerted
effort to brand China and indeed Zhongguancun. Professional country branding
and place branding to increase brand awareness and perceived value is the
name of the game to help our member companies compete on an international
scale with US software and service outsourcing businesses that are growing
amazingly fast.”
In 2005, Beijing accounted for 39% of China’s USD780 million worth of
software outsourcing business. According to McKinsey, total IT service in
China will grow to USD6.8 billion in 2007.
Mr. Kenneth Tsang, Chairman of the newly created Strategic Branding
committee of Zsoft, commented, “Country branding is important as a proxy for
customers who do not have prior experience with the branded product. To many
in the US, particularly in the second and third tier cities, ‘Brand China’
is an unknown quantity. For the minority few, who think they know China,
most have a preconceived notion of cheap prices, poor quality and counterfeit
products.
“It is encouraging to see that the situation in China is evolving.
Steady improvements are being made across the broad spectrum throughout IT
and software businesses. Zsoft and its members are advocates of
competitiveness, high quality, integrity and the credibility of both software
and service. Messaging and delivery is of paramount importance to increase
the awareness of the Zsoft brand and to change the negative perception in
people’s mind of China.”
This view was endorsed by Mr. Bin Yu, who added, “Branding of Zsoft and
member companies should well serve software outsourcing businesses to support
building ‘Made in China’ into a competitive, high quality and trustworthy
name; one that the world buyers would be happy to associate with.
“I am encouraged to see a silver lining behind the dark clouds. There
is now a welcome awakening among many of the Chinese boardrooms in that they
are no longer clouded by the misconception that branding is simply
advertising and PR. With keen insight and studied intellect, many CEOs and
entrepreneurs in Chinese software and service companies now understand and
believe in the power of brands, and brand equity in particular. The days
when they simply treat their brands as a trademark, one that is cold and
lifeless is over. They now realize the importance of the three major
components of Vision, Mission and Brand Promise that make up the soul of an
organization, how it can guide and steer the corporation now, in five years
time and into the future.”
The famous handshake between Premier Zhou Enlai and President Richard
Nixon in 1972 ended decades of estrangement between the US and China, and
since then China-American trade has grown, surpassing USD211.60 billion in
2005.
Mr. Yu continued to add, “There are many US companies wanting to come to
China but they are deterred by a general lack of knowledge of the China
market, its companies and people, and much more so by what was presented to
them as mysteries behind the Chinese veil. Without connections and a clear
guide, there is a general lack of adequate trust and confidence. The SME US
companies are not motivated, certainly not sufficiently enough to make a
decision to travel some ten thousand miles to have a feel for the Chinese IT
and software market, and they still do not realize how much they can save
through outsourcing in this part of the world. Zsoft is the answer to this
identified problem for US companies, providing a fast track for US companies
to enter China in confidence and with peace of mind. Our association will
establish eight channels connecting the two markets in areas of ‘Project’,
‘HR’, ‘Communications’, ‘Products’, ‘Branding’, ‘Consulting’,
‘Market Intelligence’, and ‘Venture Capital’. These business channels
will serve an effective purpose for perfect matching and forging of China-
American partnerships that are essential for materialization of business
opportunities.
Success has been achieved for Japan and Singapore. This business model
is now proven, and we intend to apply this whole-heartedly from the Zsoft
platform to help our member companies to open-up the American market, and
vice versa for American companies to break new grounds in the China market,”
concluded Mr. Yu.
Mr. Tsang went on to finish by saying that, “We will embark on a
strategic branding mission in 2007, one that will entail a reversal of the
current situation. Instead of us going out to the US to look for business
opportunities, IT outsourcing companies in the US, particularly those in the
2nd and 3rd tier cities who do not have a physical presence in China, will
take the initiation through our channels. They will be strongly motivated to
come to China for reliable and quality service at a competitive price.”
About Zhongguancun Software Association
Zhongguancun Software Association (Zsoft) is a Beijing-based non-profit
software association, representing about 5000 software companies in
Zhongguancun Science Park (Zpark), the so-called Silicon Valley in China.
Zsoft is under the auspices of Zhongguancun Science Park (ZPARK)
Administrative Committee, and aims to facilitate the development of software
companies in ZPARK.
About the Zsoft software outsourcing platform
On November 8, 2005, Zhongguancun Software Association (Zsoft) launched
the Zsoft Software Outsourcing Platform. The platform helps software
companies in Zhongguancun to explore markets and attain outsourcing orders by
setting up outsourcing project networks, organizing outsourcing summits and
by offering expert consulting service, etc.
The outsourcing platform functions as the gateway for international
software outsourcing service buyers to enter China. It creates win-win
models for both international and Chinese companies through the information
platform http://www.zsoft.cn , the four times-a-year Zhongguancun Software
Outsourcing Summit, seminars and the one-stop service for international
companies to establish business cooperation with Chinese software vendors.