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Rising appeal of Chinese tech

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Rising appeal of Chinese tech
By Zhang Ye

Ex-Microsoft exec’s move to Baidu seen as positive sign for local industry
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Zhang Yaqin Photo: CFP

The recent departure of tech executive Zhang Yaqin from US software giant Microsoft made quite a splash, even triggering speculation from experts about the possible end of an era when top Chinese tech professionals considered overseas multinationals the favorite option for employment.

The news of Zhang, former Microsoft Corporate vice president and chairman of Microsoft Asia-Pacific R&D Group (ARD), "defecting" to Chinese search engine powerhouse Baidu Inc came on September 8.

As Zhang is an influential figure among IT researchers, his decision immediately became a hotly discussed topic in tech circles.

"Yaqin's exit from Microsoft indicates the end of an era," Zhang Hongjiang, CEO of domestic leading antivirus service provider Kingsoft, said on his Sina Weibo account about Zhang's leaving Microsoft, without giving further explanation.

Many industry analysts and experts speculated that what Zhang Hongjiang, a fomer colleague of Zhang Yaqin at Microsoft, meant is that China has entered a new era where domestic Internet firms can lure away more talented Chinese tech professionals from multinational counterparts, due to their fast-track development and proactive overseas expansion.

In an interview with Beijing-based magazine Business Times in 2010, Zhang indicated that when he is able to handle a job with ease, it becomes time to leave that job.

Besides pursuing new personal challenges, analysts think China's current antitrust probe of the US software behemoth might be another cause.

In May, Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system was banned from being installed on Chinese government computers. In August, the State Administration for Industry & Commerce confirmed that Microsoft is under antitrust investigation over alleged transparency issues and sales bundling.

Given the current sensitive relationship between the Chinese government and his former US employer, Zhang probably did not want to be "squeezed in the middle" any more, Li Yi, secretary-general of the China Mobile Internet Industry Alliance (CMIIA), told the Global Times on September 9.

A coup for BaiduIn the eyes of Zhang Yaqin, leading domestic Internet company Baidu is a suitable next stop.

"I share their [Baidu's] vision and look forward to realizing the immense potential of Baidu in this new era," said Zhang in an announcement filed by NASDAQ-listed Baidu on its website on September 9.

According to the announcement, Zhang was appointed as president in charge of new business and will report to Baidu Chairman Li Yanhong. But a PR representative refused to reveal details about the new business department when contacted by the Global Times Monday.

Some experts said that Baidu's newly developed enterprise-class cloud computing service may be put in Zhang's hands.

In April, Baidu launched a big-data engine to offer services to allow traditional companies to better use big-data technologies, which is expected to be a new profitable venue for Baidu.

Zhang Yaqin, who has significant experience regarding the development and launch of Microsoft's public cloud service Windows Azure in China, will likely improve Baidu's research capabilities in the sector, Zhang Yi, CEO of Shenzhen-based iiMedia Research, told the Global Times Sunday.

The hiring of Zhang Yaqin is expected to give Baidu a greater profile in innovation amid intensified competition against its two major Chinese rivals Alibaba and Tencent, he said.

However, CMIIA's Li is concerned that Zhang may not have a key role in Baidu's R&D facilities at the beginning, as he has not worked as a researcher for many years.

"Zhang, a former senior manager with a US firm, needs to take some time to get accustomed to domestic Internet companies' R&D management mechanism," Li said.

"Microsoft's ARD usually takes three to five years to develop a product. By contrast, domestic Internet companies usually believe one year is long enough," he noted.

Despite the concern, Li still believed that Baidu made a wise decision to hire Zhang as he is an influential figure among Chinese IT students and can help attract more talented people to Baidu.

Talent back flow

Zhang is actually not the first top talent to jump ship from a US technology company to a domestic player.

Earlier this year, for instance, Liu Yun, former vice president of Google and head of Google Greater China, confirmed his departure from the US giant, joining Beijing-based Qihoo 360 Technology Co as the company's chief business officer.


"Starting from last year, I have seen a trend of more and more Chinese talented people coming back to work for domestic companies from multinationals partly due to a Chinese anti-monopoly investigation of US tech companies," Xie Zheng, a partner with Beijing-based recruitment firm Pro-Matrix & Co, told the Global Times.

In order to cultivate a fair and competitive business climate, China launched a range of antitrust probes on industries including tech and automobile, but these were not targeted at foreign companies which accounted for only 10 percent of the companies involved, said Premier Li Keqiang on September 9.

Even top foreign tech talents have started to consider Chinese firms more attractive.

In September 2013, Hugo Barra left Google to become Xiaomi's vice president, responsible for the Chinese smartphone maker's global division.

Andrew Ng, a Chinese American who founded and led Google's Deep Learning team, is another one, having joined Baidu as head of Baidu Research in mid-May.

Thanks to increasing consumption in China, domestic tech companies are developing faster than US companies, which means they can offer higher salaries and better treatment, said iiMedia's Zhang.

As an example of domestic companies' rapid growth, Baidu recorded a 58.5 percent year-on-year surge in revenue during the first quarter of the year, hitting $1.9 billion, faster than its US rival Google's 22 percent rise year-on-year over the same period, though Google's total revenue reached $16 billion.

"In the 1990s, brilliant Chinese scientists like Zhang Yaqin were likely to seek jobs in big tech multinationals. But Zhang's decision to leave Microsoft shows young Chinese scientists that rising domestic firms can also be a good choice," CMIIA's Li
 
here is another article, funny it has nothing to do with an Indian company lol :omghaha:

Satya Nadella is new Microsoft CEO - The Hindu

i did not get your point here. microsoft isnnt an indian company. satya nadella being indian is circumstancial.

this article on the other hand bullsh!ts about china when al it says is that one guy quit microsoft and joined some chinese company. total bleh...
 
i did not get your point here. microsoft isnnt an indian company. satya nadella being indian is circumstancial.

this article on the other hand bullsh!ts about china when al it says is that one guy quit microsoft and joined some chinese company. total bleh...

Whats more BS, the Hindu wrote an whole article about an Indian born American Citizen got promoted in an American company? it is really circumstantial indeed, as he doesnt even pay a penny of tax to India personally.

if it is not BS, then the point of the article in the Hindu was that he is too good for Indian companies.
 
Whats more BS, the Hindu wrote an whole article about an Indian born American Citizen got promoted in an American company? it is really circumstantial indeed, as he doesnt even pay a penny of tax to India personally.

if it is not BS, then the point of the article in the Hindu was that he is too good for Indian companies.

is it not possible that hindu was reporting microsofts new ceo ? pleasant thing is that he was an indian. what has got to do with india's rise ? nothing.

this article does that. that's why I mentioned it.

it's not that big an issue but lame.

The article is not about one story, but about a growing trend. That's why they mentioned Zhang in conjunction with others like him (Liu, Ng, Barra).
The article is not about one story, but about a growing trend. That's why they mentioned Zhang in conjunction with others like him (Liu, Ng, Barra).


i know what you mean...but what do i feel ? it's a lame point to gloat about. the day we attract best of west to come to asia is the day asian countries can gloat about reverse brain drain. this is a defensive version of reverse brain drain.
 
i know what you mean...but what do i feel ? it's a lame point to gloat about. the day we attract best of west to come to asia is the day asian countries can gloat about reverse brain drain. this is a defensive version of reverse brain drain.

Nope. We the Asian countries would be more than fine the day we bring back all the lost talents to the West. We do not need surplus Western brain power, except, maybe, the best of the best.

We certainly do not need the Western trash.
 
Zhang, a high role with Microsoft translate to him being more talented than the other executives who got there mostly by their white skin color.
 
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