REGIONAL> Development
Dalian Neusoft institute gets upgrade
By Zhu Chengpei and Zhang Xiaomin (China Daily Dalian Bureau)
Updated: 2009-05-20 15:07

"It is like an adult leaving the parents to develop his or her own career," said Liu Jiren, chairman of Dalian Neusoft Institute of Information, referring to the institute's separation from Northeastern University (NEU).

"NEU will lose an annual income of tens of millions of yuan with the separation. However, we are glad to let it go for the better development of the institute," said He Jicheng, president of NEU, echoing Liu's comments.

Liu and He were attending a ceremony on Tuesday inDalian, marking the institute's change from an independentinstituteofNEUinto a general institution of higher learning.

Liu, also the chairman of Neusoft Corporation,China's largest software outsourcing company, believes the establishment of the institute in 2000 is a farsighted investment for Neusoft Corporation.

According to Liu, the institute combines the practice of Neusoft Corporation, the teaching resources of NEU, and the industrial advantage of Dalian Software Park (DLSP), a subsidiary of Dalian Yida Group, another investor.

As the institute is located in DLSP, which accommodates hundreds of IT companies, students can easily get in touch with software professionals and get to know the industry better, Liu said.

Wen Tao, president of the institute, said more than twenty percent of the 15,000 graduates are now working for famous IT companies. The employment rate for the graduates has never been lower than 90 percent.

The institute has been cooperating with famed IT giants like IBM, HP, and Intel, taking advantage of its convenient location.

"The pattern of integrating industry, teaching, and researching is very useful. It represents a developing trend of education," Peter Lo, a senior official of DELL China, told China Daily.

"The interaction can help students adapt to new working environments much sooner than those who have no experience of such teaching environments," Lo commented.

Xia Deren, party secretary of Dalian Municipal Party Committee, said the cultivation of IT talents is a major factor that supports the city's software industry.

Dalianis at the forefront among domestic cities in the cultivation of IT professionals, according to Xia. Every year, more than 10,000 IT talents graduate from the city's five software institutes and 22 colleges and universities.

Statistics from the Dalian Information Industry Bureau show that sales revenue of the city's software and service outsourcing sector in 2008 reached 30.6 billion yuan, up 42.3 percent year-on-year. Exports were $1.05 billion, up 47.4 percent.

Xia said the city is planning to promote the integration of its hi-tech industrial park and the surrounding universities, including constructing an interactive innovation base like theSilicon ValleyalongLushun South Road.

Cooperation among multinationals, big companies and universities will be encouraged as well to build the city into an outstanding training base for talents from the software and service outsourcing industries, said Xia.