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Microsoft anxious to participate in Belt and Road Initiative: VP

By Zhang Hongyu (People's Daily Online)    18:29, September 22, 2017

The Belt and Road Initiative has brought about enormous opportunities to Microsoft and other international companies operating in China, and Microsoft is actively looking for opportunities to participate in the initiative, an executive of Microsoft said.

(David Chen, vice president of Microsoft,in an interview with People's Daily Online.  Zhang Hongyu/People's Daily Online)

“Microsoft is anxious to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative, and is seeking more opportunities in areas of Internet, big data, and artificial intelligence, both as a company in China and as a global company,” David Chen, vice president of Microsoft, told People’s Daily Online in an exclusive interview during the Media Cooperation Forum on Belt and Road on Sept. 19.

“The Belt and Road Initiative is a great initiative. I have seen support from many countries at the forum, as it helps the countries along the Silk Road to participate in the global economy. Its future is going to be very promising,” Chen noted.

In Chen’s opinion, China’s success in the past decades makes itself an example for other countries. “Over the past over 30 years, China has grown from a country facing many challenges to the second largest economy in the world. It has alleviated about 800 million people from poverty. It has many experiences that would be valuable to be shared with countries along the Belt and Road, so the forum also serves as a platform to share experiences, resources, and know-how with the rest of the world. I see many opportunities to work together in the initiative,” Chen explained.

China’s leapfrog development of new technologies in recent years, especially the development of e-commerce due to China’s market size and government support, have impressed Chen. He said Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent are now at the forefront of new technologies and have gone outside of China to participate in the global economy. They have a lot for other companies in the world to learn from.

According to Chen, Microsoft has been going through transformations for more than three years. The company is no longer a software licensing company, but is transforming into an important stakeholder for digital transformation, with a mission to empower every person and organization to achieve more by focusing in three areas: intelligent cloud, personal computing, and restructure for productivity. It hopes to be an enabler and partner of industries and companies in its journey of digital transformation. As China has over 700 million Internet users, with the majority of them being mobile ones, the opportunity is enormous for both new and traditional companies. Microsoft wants to be a partner with them.

Microsoft is already working with many companies in China and around the world that will find opportunities in the initiative. The company hopes to look for more concrete opportunities to work with the key stakeholders, so that its technologies can be used to facilitate the digital transformation of the companies, Chen pointed out.

On Sept. 21, Microsoft announced that Microsoft Azure IP Advantage will be available in China beginning Oct. 1, ensuring that customers in China can enjoy the same IP protection benefits as customers in the rest of the world. This move will help Chinese companies to manage intellectual property infringement risks when they taking advantage of opportunities brought by the Belt and Road Initiative.

The 2017 Media Cooperation Forum on Belt and Road was held in Dunhuang, northwest China’s Gansu province. The event brought together government officials, representatives from the business community, academia, and press; and aims to push forward the positive role of media in promoting the Belt and Road Initiative.

(For the latest China news, Please follow People's Daily on Twitter and Facebook)(Web editor: Jiang Jie, Bianji)

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