IBM starts e-commerce cooperation with south China city

GUANGZHOU, 20 July 2000 (Asia Pulse) - International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) of the United States signed on July 19 an e-commerce cooperative contract with the Jiangmen City government of south China's Guangdong Province.

This is the first such contract IBM has signed with local governments in China.

According to the contract, IBM will help the city train e-commerce personnel, build a local e-commerce platform, and familiarize local companies with the latest technology.

The IBM project is part of the RISE program (Regional Integration for Sustainable Economies), which was set up by the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation and Pacific Economic Cooperation Council this May, aiming to accelerate local agricultural and urban development worldwide.

IBM (China) CEO, Peter Jen, said IBM would like to use global resources for China's economic growth.

IBM has already set up eight joint ventures and two solely-funded companies in 11 Chinese cities.

Jiangmen, located in the western part of the Zhujiang Delta, was selected as the first test city in the world for the RISE program.

As a well-known ancestral home of overseas Chinese, the city is listed in the fourth position among all the Guangdong cities in terms of its economic strength.

Three-fourths of the city's 40 Internet Service Providers and Internet Content Providers deal in e-commerce services.

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