US software giant, Microsoft, said this week it had signed agreements with six Chinese independent software vendors (ISVs) to provide lines of business applications to corporate customers in China.
"The alliances demonstrate Microsoft's complete commitment to further expanding our partnerships and investment in the China market," Mr Charles Stevens, vice-president of Microsoft's Applications Developers Customer Unit, said in a written statement.
The company's China general manager, Ms Juliet Wu, said corporate information technology departments had been overwhelmed by the breakneck pace of technological change and the demand for a competitive advantage in the area of Internet accessibility.
"As a result, large enterprises are turning to ISVs for programs to integrate into their existing `homegrown' applications," she said.
The company said that the six ISV partners were: China National Computer Software and Technology Service, NEUAlpine, Founder Group, Sichuan Top Group, Hangzhou Singlee Electronics and Shenzhen Kingdee Software.
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