By 2005, Shanghai, China's leading industrial and commercial city, will need at least 100,000 software programers to meet the demands of its rapidly developing industry, according to the city's information technology committee.

The expansion of local software enterprises, accelerated use of information technologies in various economic sectors and the establishment of more and more R&D centers by multinational corporations in Shanghai have all increased the need for more software professionals, according to Zhou Weidong, an official with the committee.

Currently, Shanghai has only 41,000 software programers, and each year, about 5,000 people graduate from computer and related specialties of local universities.

Shanghai has seen a fast growth in the software industry in recent years. In 2002, the city registered 11.7 billion yuan (US$1.41billion) in software sales, up 61 percent over the previous year. Shanghai's software exports topped US$175 million last year, a rise of 72 percent year-on-year.

The city has 1,207 software enterprises each with an annual sales volume of over 500,000 yuan (about US$60,000).

Zhou Weidong said that to meet the fast-growing demand for software programers, Shanghai plans to increase the enrollment in related departments in local universities and introduce more software personnel from other regions of China.

Zhou disclosed that his committee recently signed an agreement with IBM to jointly train 250 software teachers, to be licensed by IBM, as well as 5,000 senior software programers within three years.

(Xinhua News Agency September 9, 2003)