Indian IT firms seek to make headway in China
18 Jan 2011
In the backdrop of Chinese premier Wen Jiabao's recent visit to India to beef up economic ties, software companies like TCS and Wipro are "ramping up" efforts to win business in the last Communist bastion, according to a Chinese media report.
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), India's largest information technology services company by sales, is leading the effort to expand the presence of the Indian IT industry in China, state-run China Daily reported. However, cracking the Chinese market may not be an easy job, the report said.
"Chinese companies are still used to the traditional global brands. They have not yet seen us. So it is also a question of brand-building for us," TCS Asia-Pacific region head Girija Pande told the daily.
Unlike their Western counterparts, large Chinese companies usually have their own IT department, and outsourcing is hardly yet a phenomenon that China witnesses. "But when they start doing it and focus on their core business, then the Indian companies can bring value to China's domestic outsourcing market," Pande said.
With the trade deficit between the two countries expected to widen with record bilateral trade worth $60 billion in 2010, India has been pressing China to give market access for IT, pharmaceuticals, agro-products and engineering services, as they are presumed to have good scope to grow in Chinese markets.
During his recent visit to New Delhi, Jiabao had promised to facilitate greater market access for Indian goods and services. However, little action has been seen on the ground.
