Epicor Software Corp expected China's IT spending, including the manufacturing sector, to continue to grow next year, despite the impact of the global financial crisis, the world's sixth-biggest ERP (enterprise resource planning) software vendor said yesterday.

The growth will mainly come from demand of large state-owned enterprises, western China firms and manufacturers which require IT to improve supply chain and work efficiency, according to Anson Lee, Epicor's regional director of China, South Korea and Japan regions.

"It is a tough economic environment globally but we can still feel the vibrancy in China," said Lee.

Companies are investing in technology to differentiate from competitors, according to Epicor, which launched its new product, the Epicor ERP.

A total of 81 percent of companies in China report they will increase spending on outsourcing in 2008. Meanwhile, China's IT spending is expected to increase of 8.3 percent in 2009, said researchers Gartner and AMR Research.

(Shanghai Daily November 19, 2008)