Shenyang has recently begun to build the biggest software development training center in Neusoft Park.

The project is expected to complete construction in one year.

With a 180-million-yuan investment from the Neusoft Group, a leading software firm, as well as the Shenyang city government and the Hunnan New District Administration, the software training base is planned to cover a total of 87,000 sq m of land, including a 22,000 sq m area for a teaching building.

Once operational, the base has been designed to offer software-related training services to 10,000 students and trainees annually.

The center will play a significant role in spurring growth of the city's software industry and help ease the imbalance created by the rapid development of the sector and the shortage of software human resources, local authorities said.

Recent years have witnessed robust growth in the city's software sector, which realized 10 billion yuan in sales revenues and $150 million in exports in 2006.

At present, the city has more than 400 companies involved in software development. Among them, Neusoft Group has grown into a top national industrial player.

With fast development of the software industry, the demand for software developers is growing dramatically.

The sales revenue of the city's software sector is projected to reach 50 billion yuan in 2010, which means it will require 150,000 to 180,000 professionals involved in the field.

Yet, the current number of professionals in the city is fewer than 20,000, indicating a huge need for human resource reserves.

Against the backdrop of the worldwide trend of software outsourcing, the training base under construction will provide a rich human resource reservoir for the development of the local software industry, said Lu Xin, vice-governor of the province.

Meanwhile, the running of training institutes in collaboration with a company, which is in a better position to get immediate feedback from the market regarding technological solution requirements, will also promote educational reform of institutes of higher learning, Lu noted.

Shenyang's Executive Vice-Mayor Zhao Changyi said that building the software training base is a key move to boost the growth of the city's emerging industries including the modern service sector, and will help the city move closer toward its goal of building itself into a leading software center in the country.

(China Daily October 12, 2007)