Chinese enterprises need to embrace information technology to better manage their businesses, China's IT authority said Wednesday.

"The need for change was made obvious by the SARS outbreak, during which people tried to avoid face-to-face contact," Li Jian, general director of the High-tech Industrialization Department of the Ministry of Science and Technology, said Wednesday.

Li said Internet and online activities will allow enterprises to continue to do business.

"Whatever the enterprise, big or small, it is vitally important for them to adopt advanced management theory and practice, and a mature IT-enabled environment is needed to support their operations," the general director said.

Li's suggestions were echoed by officials and experts at the opening ceremony of a week-long online forum on enterprise IT.

The forum is supported by the Office of State Council Leading Group of Enterprise Informatization, China National Enterprises Website, and leading software producer UFsoft.

Chinese enterprises have been quick to set up web sites and use software in day-to-day operations.

A survey conducted by the leading group office indicated that by the end of 2002, 83 per cent of the 538 key State-owned enterprises (SOE) have their own websites. In 2000, the percentage was 74.

Experts and insiders believe that management software can help improve business performance.

Yet insiders caution that to successfully implement enterprise resources planning (ERP), SOEs must raise awareness among company leaders of the importance of a modern management approach.

Initiated by the US-based Gartner Group in the early 1990s, ERP is a computerized information management system that, based on supply chain theory, integrates everything from customer demand to production and raw materials.

Such a system can simplify business processes and make for more efficient and transparent operations.

"The ERP system will help enterprises identify customer needs and be flexible in production," said Gao Shaoyi, vice-president of UFsoft.

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