Intel will set up new manufacturing bases and research institutions in China, said Intel Vice-President Jason Chen, also general manager of Intel Asia Pacific.

"We are going to make it easier for entrepreneurs in the landlocked region to start their e-businesses as soon as possible," Chen said.

Intel has already worked with IT companies in the western region of China, including Seastar Group in Xi'an and Tianfu On-line in Chengdu.

"Intel wants to play 'enabler' in future e-business industry in the hinterland," Chen said.

Intel now has 12 branches in China, most of which are along the coast.

"We have noticed that some cities in the west, such as Xi'an, have an excellent group of educated people," said Chen.

Xi'an has 54 universities and more than 200 research institutions, the third most of any Chinese city, following Beijing and Shanghai.

"These people, given good training in commerce and business, will play a major role in introducing a fresh economy, an e-commerce economy, to the west," Chen said.

Chen and other IT experts said e-business will fuel economic growth in the west in the near future.

Intel is also looking to inject venture capital into the west of the country as long as the projects there are promising. Chen said western China still lacks a "sound" venture capital system and related services for foreign investors.

Intel has offered venture capital to 15 projects in China, and about 50 more offers are under consideration. Chen said Intel does not yet know how much money it will spend in western China.

Many Chinese experts say the region will take a while to generate a new economy but that e-business could speed it up.

Now, in western cities such as Xi'an and Chengdu, the Internet is accessible to customers only via telephone lines, which greatly reduce browsing speed.

And in western regions such as Shaanxi province, few people surf the Web, making up merely 1 percent of the nation's total.

"Infrastructure is a problem," said Chen.

Right now Intel is spending six months educating people to the fledging e-commerce economy in 11 western Chinese cities.

(China Daily)