Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang’s visit to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) offshore development centre here on Tuesday highlights the position accorded to the information technology (IT) sector by China and underscores TCS’ role in the Chinese IT services market.
From being the first Indian IT company to enter China via a joint venture in Shanghai in 2002, TCS is, today, the largest Indian IT company there.
Cyrus P. Mistry, Chairman of the Tata Group along with N. Chandrasekaran, CEO & Managing Director, TCS, welcomed the Chinese Premier and his delegation to the facility. The Tata group was the only Indian private enterprise on the itinerary of the Chinese Premier’s three-day India visit.
The event was not open to the media but in a statement, Mr. Mistry said, “China is a very important geography for the future growth of the Tata group, and we continue to increase our investments and scale of operations in that country. TCS was the first Indian software company to set up operations in China and has grown significantly there. We have made substantial investments in many sectors across China. We believe that there can be tremendous cross-learning between Indian and China in the field of technology.”
According to TCS, China presents opportunities in technologies such as cloud, mobility and big data. TCS, at present, operates out of six locations in China— Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Dalian. Besides servicing the needs of global clients with operations in China and the rest of south Asia, TCS China meets domestic geography’s demand for IT solutions and supports neighbouring markets.
The company’s China headcount is around 3,000. “The total number of clients served out of China (around 40) of the total active client base of 1,065 for TCS, translates to around 4 per cent which should explain low employee base partly,” Pratik Gandhi, IT analyst, IDBI Capital Market Services, told The Hindu. .
“The other reason for the low headcount could be the language barrier as most global clients require the same. However, the management is keen to grow China business much faster than it is growing currently,” Mr. Gandhi said.
