"We make a few investments every year and China will be our biggest move this year in terms of market and products," Craig Conway, chief executive officer and president of PeopleSoft.

He said China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) means more local enterprises will have chances to compete with their international counterparts and are anxious to upgrade their management with enterprise software, so PeopleSoft is coming at a "prefect time".

PeopleSoft is the second largest enterprise management software maker globally and boasts its purely Internet-based solutions.

The China operation will first be based in Beijing and then another office will be opened in Shanghai.

Peoplesoft's China branch will focus on three areas: finance, telecom and utility. It will seek the help of its partners in the initial stages, including IBM, Accenture and local firm Omega Consulting Co Ltd.

Many experts have welcomed the arrival of the software vendor.

"Although German software firm SAP and the US company Oracle have been established in the country for years, the entry of another big name will help popularize the conception of management software and the competition will also create a bigger market and better services," said Li Baoshan, a local software expert.

(Xinhua News Agency April 11, 2002)