Shanghai, China's leading industrial and commercial city, has set up a 100-million-yuan (12 million US dollars) software company as part of its effort to turn itself into an international information center.

Fudan Grandorizon Information Technology Co., Ltd., the largest of its kind in the metropolis funded by the Shanghai Posts and Telecommunications Administration, prestigious Fudan University, and the Shanghai Scientific and Technological Information Center, is designed to focus on developing information technology and various software products.

Shanghai, which set the goal of building itself a world information center in the near future, has listed the information technology industry as one of the key growth areas of local economy.

Over the past few years, the city has turned out integrated circuits, computers, mobile telecommunications facilities and a series of other profitable information technology products.

Today, Shanghai produces one-fifth of China's integrated circuits, one-third of telecommunications equipment, and 30 percent of IC cards, according to available latest statistics.