October 11, 2007 -- Xiamen Municipal Government is working with Cisco to install key networking technology in Xiamen, Fujian. Cisco announced the new 'Cisco TelePresence' project on September 8th, making Xiamen the first city in Asia to offer Cisco's online video meeting system, which allows people to conduct meetings with participants in many different places.

"This project is a continuation of previous cooperation between Xiamen and Cisco. The mutual benefit is visible and long-lasting," Mr Lin, of the Information Industry Department of Xiamen Municipal Government, told Emerging China. He did not want to disclose his full name. "Xiamen needs high-technology firms. Cisco's new project is welcome in Xiamen Software Park and so is its large scale investment."

Lin denied that Xiamen has any advantages when it comes to attracting high-tech firms.

"Compared with other large cities in China, Xiamen's advantage is not obvious. Thus, in order to attract more high-technology firms, this kind of cooperation should continue," said Lin. "The software park is a good case in point, where we have brought in the Taiwan Cartoon industry, and we will have more projects with Cisco in the near future."

"Entering the Xiamen market should be a long-term process," said Ye Liwei, Cisco China's marketing manager, told Emerging China. There are two kinds of Cisco Telepresence products. "Both types are still in their early stages in America. But we can see its future in Xiamen, because it is a city that is famous for its large number of oversea firms, which are the target market for the product."

"Xiamen government has put its focus on ICT (Information communication technology)," Yang Kai, analyst from the Telecommunication and Information Department at CCID Consulting, told Emerging China. "As a new city which is open to western firms, such as Dell, Xiamen presents both an established international brand and supportive policies from the local government." He also thinks that Cisco's products will expand to other Chinese cities soon.

"The ICT field is the main focus of Cisco's strategy," said Yang. Under the umbrella of 'Golden Engineering Projects', the Xiamen government has been encouraging the application of high-tech solutions to the governance of the city.

"It is undeniable that Cisco TelePresence, as an online video meeting system, takes 'Golden Engineering Projects' as its starting point. Also, Cisco believes its products will always in the number one position when facing the growing competition from Microsoft, Google, etc," said Yang.