Working staff of the Chongwen District Administration for Industry and Commerce (CDAIC) in this Chinese capital went for a market inspection as usual Sunday.

Different from the past, they took a palmtop computer instead of the original heavy documents to record information.

They could have all the data concerning local enterprises by merely clicking the palmtop menus, to check the firms' operations.

"It's fantastic that I can take photos of under-the-counter operations on the spot with the palmtop system, featuring digital camera function, and immediately transmit them back to the headquarters' data bank," said one of the staff members, Wang Yixin.

CDAIC Director Cui Jianli said the palmtop being used by his office is a product of the US-based PALM Company, in which a data processing system called the "Mobile Administration System" has been specially set up.

Working staff can not only examine enterprises' operations, including registration, logo, advertisement, contract and records of wrongdoing, but also do on-the-spot updating of the headquarters' data.

"China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) means a more open market, demanding a more powerful governmental administration. Introducing hi-tech means and enhancing efficiency are the key to efficient market supervision." said Cui.

Simon Hong, president of Vadcom Telecommunication Ltd., which developed the palmtop system for the CADIC, said that he believed that China, which has the largest number of mobile phone users, is the biggest potential market for Internet wireless access.

PALM, as the largest palmtop manufacturer in the United States, currently holds a market share of 78 percent worldwide.

"Vadcom has opened up a new market in the Chinese government, which had never been viewed as a potential market by US enterprises before," said PALM's vice-president, Jerry Jalaba.

David Miller, an expert with Intel, said, "The Chinese government's use of the palmtop system demonstrates China's positive reaction to its entry into the WTO."

Meanwhile, Vadcom is also participating in some research projects of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security in preparation for Beijing's hosting of the Olympic Games in 2008.

Experts believe that palmtop technology will soon be applied in the fields of law, medicine and individual financial services.

(China Daily March 4, 2002)