China signs .NET Microsoft deal

Microsoft on Thursday signed two agreements that will deepen ties with the China government, even as the country's officials embark on programs that will entrench rival open source systems within the state infrastructure.

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive, was in Bejing to sign a deal that will partner the software giant with the state-owned China National Computer Software & Technology Service Corporation (CS&S), the country's largest domestic software development and systems integration firm.

The two firms will co-develop solutions based on Microsoft .NET and Office System platforms. The joint development of IT skills and training of CS&S engineers and partners is another focus of the agreement, with plans for Microsoft and CS&S to jointly train 200 CS&S developers and 120 IT architects within one year, according to a press statement from Microsoft.

Tang Min, president of CS&S said: "By taking advantage of the engineering talent already within CS&S…and in the potential to leverage Microsoft outsourcing opportunities…CS&S will not only strive in its current position as the largest IT solutions and service provider in China and but to be one of the top IT outsourcing companies in the world."

CS&S and Microsoft have jointly developed security products based on the Chinese versions of Windows 2000 and Windows XP platforms.

In February, the government-run China Information Technology Security Certification Centre (CNITSEC) signed an agreement with Microsoft to participate in Microsoft's Government Security Program (GSP).

In September, CS&S signed the GSP Source Code Agreement's Additional Personnel Exhibits with CNITSEC and Microsoft. CS&S will have controlled access to Windows source code through the Source Code Review Lab at CNITSEC.

CS&S was established in 1990 and operates under the control of China Electronics Corporation (CEC). CS&S has ISO9001 certification in software development, systems integration, computer training and software export.

In a separate agreement, Steve Ballmer represented Microsoft to sign an agreement to contribute $10 million to bring IT services to primary schools, especially those in poorer, more remote parts of China.

Microsoft China will partner with the Ministry of Education to upgrade teachers' IT training and support activities such as telelearning, education IT management training, said the statement.

Under the scheme, two IT teacher training centres in China's rural west will be set up. Through the newly established China Technology Centre in Beijing, the software firm will work with the ministry and local partners to develop distance learning technologies. One hundred rural middle schools will also receive computer classrooms.

Education Minister Zhou Ji said: "For students and teachers in the rural areas, informatisation will bring the Internet to their schools, enrich their knowledge and narrow the digital divide."

Microsoft's moves come after rival Sun Microsystems and China Standard Software Company (CSSC) established Sun's Java Desktop System as the foundation for standard desktop development and deployment in the country.

The CSSC, a consortium of Chinese technology companies supported by the Chinese government, aims to produce a nationwide standard desktop software system to help bridge the nation's digital divide, according to a statement from Sun.

The CSSC and Sun Microsystems agreement, signed earlier this week, will pave the way for the CSSC to deliver its own branded desktop products using the Java Desktop System as the foundation for its desktop standards, subject to export approval from the US government.

China plans to ultimately install at least 200 million copies of a non-Microsoft Windows, open-standards-based desktop solution throughout the country.

Sun CEO Scott McNealy said of the agreement: "We're going to immediately roll out the Java Desktop System to between a half million and a million desktops in 2004. It makes us instantaneously the number one Linux desktop player on the planet."

The multi-year agreement is planned to start at the end of 2003, according to Sun.