German firm SAP fulfills $2b pledge in China

The German multinational software firm SAP has fulfilled its 2011 promise to invest $2 billion in China within five years, company CEO Bill McDermott told Chinese media recently.

McDermott says he is confident about China’s economic growth and adds that SAP will increase its investments in the Chinese markets in the long term.

While reports did not specify how the money was spent, SAP’s plans for the $2 billion included nearly doubling its workforce and the number of its offices in China, Bloomberg reported in 2011. Investments were to focus on sales-force training and developing software that could be exported to other countries.

McDermott also says he believes SAP can boost China’s economic development with innovative technologies. The 45-year-old company, whose name stands for “System Analysis and Program Development”, makes software to manage business operations and customer relations.

McDermott gave a speech titled “Winners Dream” to hundreds of Chinese youth at Tsinghua University in Beijing recently. He told them that with a creative and enterprising spirit, he fulfilled his career dream, and that spirit could do the same for them.

renjie@chinadaily.com.cn