JARDINE Office Systems (JOS), the information technology business arm of Jardine Pacific, is expanding into China, with plans to start the assembly of personal computers (PCs) and peripherals on the mainland.
JOS already has representative offices in Beijing and Shanghai, managed by Jardine Matheson, but, to expand its interests further into China, JOS has established its own China division.
Steve Lo,the managing director of JOS, said China was worth between $100 billion to $150 billion in vendors' revenues this year.
''The China market is far from saturated, and a 15 to 20 per cent annual market growth is expected in the next few years.'' JOS China plans include a fully owned subsidiary in Pudong, Jardine Trading (Shanghai), to be set up this autumn.
In the pipeline are six distribution and service centres which will be set up by next year - the first one in Shanghai, then in Pudong, and one each in Beijing, Dalian, Guilin and Wuhan.
These distribution and services centres will cater to JOS's 200 re-sellers, and make it easier for JOS's re-sellers to get access to products and buy in the local currency.
The Pudong subsidiary would be able to provide better support to its re-sellers and customers, while its representative offices would mainly have liaison functions, said Mr Lo. These centres will be set up on a joint-venture basis with local Chinese partners.