To achieve this goal, Microsoft Research Asia (MSRA) - a Beijing-based fundamental research institute which is a subsidiary of the US company - teamed up with the Shanghai Science and Technology Association to conduct a three-day educational campus tour, which ended in Shanghai yesterday.

Covering the city's four major higher-education institutions, including Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) and Fudan University, the activity enabled 10,000-plus university students - many of whom from software colleges - to access the sector's latest technology trends through more than 30 lectures, technology forums and exhibitions.

"The most dynamic part of the information industry is the software sector, and talents comprise the sector's soul," said Zhang Yaqin, president of MSRA. "It's our long-term commitment to bolster young talents' growth through such activities."

During the tour, MSRA also announced an overall supportive programme to aid the universities' software colleges, including the donation of educational software products and a research development platform worth some 2.6 million yuan (US$313,000).

The event was the third stop of MSRA's nationwide educational tour, following Tianjin and Xi'an. It will extend to Chongqing, Shenzhen and Beijing later this year.

"Close co-operation between universities and top-notch software companies can be an effective shortcut to nurture a good number of badly needed software talents," said Fu Yuxi, vice-president of SJTU's software college.

Feeling the pinch of lagging behind the world's biggest software-producing countries, like India and the United States, China saw the establishment of 35 such State-level software colleges nationwide last year in order to quickly catch up.

(China Daily March 18, 2002)