Microsoft to build services delivery center in China

Microsoft and the government of Chongqing Municipality on Wednesday signed an agreement to build a global services delivery center in the southwestern Chinese megacity. The Chinese arm of Microsoft Services Global Delivery, the company's second such arrangement after Microsoft Global Services India, will offer software consulting, application, development and delivery services to customers, according to the agreement. The center will expand its business to cover the areas of Greater China, Japan and the Republic of Korea in the future. It aims to achieve sales revenue of 200 million U.S. dollars within three years. Meanwhile, the Chongqing municipal government and Microsoft will try to jointly introduce five to 10 outsourcing companies of Microsoft or its partners to set up businesses in the city. Chongqing mayor Huang Qifan said the establishment of the center, as part of the city's "Cloud Plan," will forcefully boost the development of its IT industry. Huang said Chongqing's IT industrial output is expected to exceed 600 billion yuan (96.77 billion dollars) by 2015.