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Follow UsDoug Young
SHANGHAI: Microsoft said it is investing $20 million in Chinasoft International Ltd., the latest in a recent flurry of moves in China for the world's top software company after several years of relative quiet.
U.S.-based Microsoft said it is co-investing in Chinasoft with International Finance Corp., the World Bank's private sector arm, which is putting in another $15 million as it steps up its Chinese investments, according to an announcement released late on Monday.
Trading in Chinasoft's shares were suspended on Monday pending an announcement about a transaction involving a new share issue. No further details were immediately available.
Chinasoft will use the investment to develop its core business capabilities and accelerate its expansion into international markets, according to the announcement.
"Today's investment is part of our commitment made ... in 2002 to support China's software industry," Microsoft said in a statement, referring to a 2002 pledge by the company to invest 6.2 billion yuan ($766 million) in China.
The company had been relatively quiet since then until this year, when it formed several new partnerships while a former top executive discussed frustrations with his work in China prior to his recent departure.
In May, Microsoft announced the formation of two new ventures for its MSN Internet service in China, saying the development would allow it to offer "the full gamut of a true Internet portal" services in the market.
One of those ventures involved its acquisition of assets from a provider of software for mobile phones, as it sought to tap the country's vast market of 370 million mobile phone users.
In July, Microsoft also agreed to invest $25 million in Hong Kong-listed Lang Chao International Ltd., a unit of a larger Chinese software maker.
Before the latest flurry of deals, the company had made few major announcements in the market.
A former company vice president, Kai-Fu Lee, said in testimony earlier this month that his recent departure from Microsoft after becoming frustrated with the company's approach to China.
Lee, 43, had previously established Microsoft's research and development centre in Beijing.
His testimony came during a lawsuit by Microsoft in the United States aiming to stop Lee from working for search rival Google on the grounds that he possessed confidential information from his time working at Microsoft.
A judge finally cleared the way for Lee to work for Google in China, but placed tough restrictions on confidential information he had gleaned while working for Microsoft.