Chinasoft set to ramp up efforts in foreign markets

IT and software service provider banking on growth in overseas business to boost revenue

Chinasoft International Ltd, a leading information technology and software service provider in China, is aiming to expand its annual revenue to 30 billion yuan ($4.32 billion) over the next three years, with its overseas business as an important growth engine, its CEO said on Thursday.

Similar to the business models of major Chinese e-commerce platforms such as Taobao and JD, the company provides an online IT and software platform where users can search for desired IT services, while outsourcing companies, especially small and medium-sized ones, can find business opportunities.

"Overseas business now accounts for around 20 percent of the company's total revenue. It is expected to grow rapidly as an increasing number of its clients, including Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, are going abroad," said Chen Yuhong, chairman and CEO of Chinasoft International, in an interview with China Daily.

He said that in face of the current trade tensions between China and the United States, the company will make full use of the domestic market and develop core technologies to grow stronger.

"Meanwhile, we will switch part of our efforts to extend business to manufacturing powers in Europe. We are also exploring emerging and innovation-driven markets such as Israel," Chen said.

Driven by increasing orders, the Nanjing, Jiangsu province-based company is exploring uncharted territory in the IT and software sector by establishing JointForce, an open cloud platform linking companies, engineers and outsourcing providers.

"With JointForce becoming our new growth driver, we aim to build China's largest cloud ecosystem platform," Chen said.

Data from Chinasoft International showed that the platform has gathered more than 320,000 engineers and 30,000 companies.

China's IT and software segment has been gaining momentum in the past few years. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the software industry hit 3.95 trillion yuan in market scale in the first eight months of this year, up 14.8 percent year-on-year.

However, Chen said that compared with international big brands, Chinese IT companies still have much room to grow in terms of core technologies, innovation and management.

"But thanks to the country's digital transformation, the market is becoming a more promising one for us," he said.

Chinasoft International, founded in 2000, mainly provides IT solutions including big data, cloud computing and mobile internet, for companies such as Huawei, which is now the company's largest partner .

According to its fiscal report, its total revenue hit 9.24 billion yuan last year, with an increase of 36 percent year-on-year.