Xi'an, a city famous for its history and rich culture, has become home for an increasing number of start-up domestic software companies as well as international companies wanting to set up their R&D centers to take advantage of its talent pool.
The Great Wild Goose Pagoda, a well-preserved ancient building in Xi'an, China. [Photo by Zhang Jiaqi/China SCIO]
Now, the city is upgrading its software industry by giving full play to its talent advantage, and making efforts to attract more high-end talents to join in the drive to become a Silicon Valley in western China.
Susan Su, a co-founder of a software company named Nowledge Data, recalls why she chose Xi'an to start up her business about six years ago after returning from working abroad for several years.
Facing traffic jams lasting for hours made her decide against setting up the company in a large city, and then, she turned to Xi'an and noticed the considerable number of IT-related university graduates and the strong willingness of the Xi'an people to stay in their hometown, which helped create a large pool of basic talents and a relatively low rate of job changing.
"Those working in the software industry in large cities may change their jobs two or three times a year, but those working in the software industry don't even think of changing after two or three years in the job," Su said.
Considering these factors, and bearing in mind that people are the most important asset for a software company, Su decided Xi'an was the place to be.
As her company grows and prospers in the Xi'an High-Tech Zone, time has proved the correctness of her original decision. Actually, the talent pool and job stability aspect have been attracting companies to start up their business or set up their offices here for years.
Talent pool favored by international companies
Xi'an boasts the highest output-input ratio of technological investment, and that's why the largest global research institute of Huawei is located in Xi'an, according to what the company's CEO once told Lyu Dongguo, director of Xi'an Software Park Development Center.
With nearly 15,000 employees in its R&D base there, Huawei is only one out of 31 Fortune 500 companies setting up offices or R&D bases in the Xi'an Software Park. As one of the four industrial parks recognized as both a National Software Industrial Base and National Software Export Base in China, the park has also attracted ZTE, IBM, J&J, BYD and Emerson among many other international companies. There are 38 Top 100 software companies in China based here.
It is the talent pool that makes this possible, Lyu stresses.
As a city of education, Xi'an cultivated 60,000 IT-related graduates in its 93 universities and colleges in 2016. As of that year, there are 165,000 employees working in the software and information service industry in Xi'an High-Tech Zone, with an annual growth of more than 10,000 employees, including over 65 percent of fresh graduates.
Li Dong, principal assistant of the Xi'an office of Thoughtworks, a global technology consultancy, also favored the software talent resources in Xi'an, saying this as well as the industrial support on offer led the company to make its strategic move here.
"Many joined the company upon graduation, and the job hopping of members of the core technical team was much less frequent than in large cities. With more software talents and companies gathering here now, we believe the local software industry is heading for a prosperous future, which is exactly why the Xi'an office is our biggest office in China with 350 employees," Li said.
Considerate services and conducive policies to companies
A model of the general layout of Xi'an Software Town. [Photo by Zhang Jiaqi/China SCIO]
Having just returned from an exchange event of the software industry from Silicon Valley a few days ago, Su expressed her gratitude for such opportunities granted by the government, as well as its convenient services.
"As you all know, the administrative service is generally not available on weekends in China, but now, some joke that the (Xi'an municipal) government has become a seven-eleven convenience store where you can get good service almost seven days a week," Su said, adding that they only need one morning now to get all the documentation sorted out in one place, the government affairs hall with counters staffed by various different government departments.
Actually, the government has opened a 24-hour hotline and delivery service as well, and besides the considerate services thus provided, the software park also offers strong support to the companies to settle in.
"A company visited our office and regarded it as an ideal space for it to settle in our park, so my team moved out within two days so that they can use the office later," Lyu said.
According to Lyu, the property fees of the park have not risen up despite rising prices in the neighborhood. By doing so, the park, as part of the Xi'an High-Tech Zone and an important supporter of software companies, helps to reduce the costs of companies and provide preferential policies for them to settle in.
In 2016, companies in the Xi'an High-Tech Zone achieved an output value of software of 199.4 billion yuan (US$30 billion), 90 percent of Xi'an total. The high-tech zone with a large amount of software companies having settled in also contributes a large share of industrial support through cumulative effect.
Thirst for high-end talents
Developing based on the talent advantage, however, the software industry of Xi'an has not relaxed the efforts to keep their people happy.
To retain the talents, besides the "Hukou" of Xi'an granted by the government for employed staff to enjoy permanent residence in the city, the software companies also help them to apply for public rental housing, usually a one-bedroom apartment at a price of less than 1,000 yuan a month.
Besides, Xi'an municipal government has also sponsored the Global Programmers' Festival to attract talents from the rest of the country and around the world. Despite a city boasting a large pool of software talents, Xi'an, as Lyu emphasized, still faces a shortage in high-end talent, especially those with leadership ability and, more importantly, entrepreneurship. This festival aims to gather the programmers in China and the world, and attract and introduce more high-end professionals.
