Property prices in a remote, little-known town in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province, have been rising after a Fortune 500 company recently started operations.

It is a reflection of today's globalized world. To Li Ming, a local software engineer, it's an opportunity to invest.

He bought an apartment in the town of Huashan earlier this year because he knew that IBM would move its operations there. And everything turned out as he expected.

But like most people, Li didn't know that behind the story is another company - Dalian Software Park Co, also known as DLSP, whose expertise is providing solutions in business park management and creating the right office space for companies like IBM.

A wholly owned subsidy of real estate developer Yida Group, DLSP began by developing Dalian Software Park in 1998. It is now home to nearly 650 software companies from both China and overseas and some 80,000 employees. Among them, more than 50 companies are on the Fortune 500 list, including IBM, HP, Accenture and Oracle.

The connection between DLSP and Wuhan started in 2006 when it invested in the city's East Lake High-Tech Development Zone.

Also known as Guanggu, or Optics Valley, the development zone was established in the same year as Dalian Software Park. But in the first few years, it was stagnant with few companies joining.

The situation changed after DLSP began participating in the park's operation in 2006. It transplanted its successful experience in Dalian to Wuhan. It helped local government formulate the development plan for the park's software and service outsourcing industry and managed to bring several major clients including IBM.

In just two years, the number of enterprises in Optics Valley increased from some 30 to more than 110, with resident staff growing from fewer than 2,000 to 12,000.

The former stillness at the park is gone as Optics Valley began building a name for itself in the service outsourcing industry.

The change has won DLSP recognition from the local government and partners. It was later given a new task to build the Guanggu e-Town and completed the project in two years.

With an aim to build the city a technological focal point in Central China and to create a Silicon Valley-type high-tech industrial cluster for innovation, the local government then established Wuhan First City. A core project in the expansion of the Wuhan East Lake High-Tech Development Zone, it is a short drive away from the current park.

Hubei United Investment Group, DLSP and Wuhan East Lake High Technology Group Co jointly invested in the Wuhan First City. DLSP is in charge of development, operations and management.

With a planned investment of more than 20 billion yuan ($3.3 billion) and an area of about 3.4 square kilometers, the new city will house nine industrial parks, each with a specific positioning in sectors such as mobile Internet, cloud computing, industrial design, electronic commerce and financial service outsourcing.

It will also have an international R&D area, mainly for operations of Fortune 500 companies.

The goal is to have 100 leading companies with operations in the new city and 1,000 technology-driven startups, said local officials.

They estimate that total number of employees in the new city will eventually reach 200,000 and its annual output value will surpass 50 billion yuan.

Wuhan is an ideal place to develop software and service outsourcing industry, they added.

The city has a sufficient talent pool with more than 1 million university and college students. Two of China's top 10 universities are in Wuhan.

A traditional transportation hub on the Yangtze River, the city also has geographical advantages. It takes only four hours on the high-speed railway from Wuhan to Beijing or Shenzhen. Direct flights to Chengdu or Shanghai take less than two hours.

It has already built a strong client base in the industry.

With the first phase of construction on the Wuhan First City complete, many other Fortune 500 companies are in discussions with the local government and management of the zone on possible cooperation.

"We want to build a science park in Guanggu that is as famous as Silicon Valley," said Shao Hui, general manager of Wuhan Software City Development Co.

Shao said they have invited top design firms from around the world to participate in the project and many of the designs have prototypes in the famous, high-tech innovation center in the United States.

"The environment, building standards and the infrastructure we offer the clients share a certain similarity with those in the Silicon Valley", he said.

"We want to build a world-class IT service base and we wish to provide attractive working space here for companies with headquarters in the Silicon Valley."

hantianyang@chinadaily.com.cn

Artist's rendering of the Wuhan First City in the Wuhan East Lake High-Tech Development Zone of Hubei province. Photos Provided to China Daily

Design for the first-stage of the project.

Plan for the second-stage construction.

(China Daily 11/14/2013 page13)