An American delegation comprising executives from leading software businesses visited southwest China’s Sichuan province Tuesday, kicking off a two-day mission to promote software cooperation in western China.

Led by U.S. ambassador to China Gary Locke, the delegation will hold trade talks with Chinese partners from Sichuan and Chongqing, which will cover the topics like promoting bilateral trade, fostering local economic growth, and protecting intellectual property rights of software.

Representatives from the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and famous software businesses, including Adobe, Oracle, Microsoft and Siemens PLM, were among the delegation.

During a meeting with Sichuan officials Tuesday, Gary Locke said that western China, especially Sichuan, has established a well-developed high-tech economic pattern and transparent legal system, creating a foundation of innovation that has consequently attracted more foreign investors. He also said highly educated professionals and a comfortable environment in Sichuan also attract more American enterprises.

Xie Kaihua, director of the Sichuan Provincial Department of Commerce, said software outsourcing service has been a highlight in the province’s foreign investment and more American software businesses are welcome to invest in Sichuan.

The goods trade between Sichuan and the United States exceeded 10 billion U.S. dollars last year, growing by 84.6 percent year-on-year, statistics show.

In addition, the direct investment from American businesses in Sichuan has surpassed 1.4 billion dollars, and 16 Sichuan businesses have invested in the United States with a total investment of more than 80 million U.S. dollars.

Source: http://english.cri.cn/6909/2012/05/08/2982s698096.htm