BEIJING, China -- September 21, 1998 -- Cisco Systems President and CEO John T. Chambers met with President Jiang Zemin last Friday at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, the final stop of his current Asia tour. Also present were Ms. Wei Yu, Vice Minister of Education, Mr. Lu Xin Kui, Vice Minister of Information Industry and Mr. Liu Hua Qiu, Director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the State Council. Cisco executives present included William Nuti, vice president of Greater Asia operations, and the Cisco China executive team.
John Chambers' five-day Asia tour also included meetings with Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong of Singapore, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia, and Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa of the Hong Kong SAR.
During the 90-minute meeting, President Jiang and Chambers exchanged views on a broad range of topics, including development of the China market economy, the importance of IT and education on the future development of China, the impact of networking technology on the globalization of economies, and China's leadership role during the Asian financial crisis.
President Jiang expressed his desire to see more multinational companies such as Cisco Systems cooperate with, and invest in China. However, he further stressed that while investment in manufacturing is important, even greater synergy will arise from intellectual exchange. To this end, he said the Chinese government would set legislation and policies to create a beneficial environment to facilitate the technology transfer process.
Said Chambers, "Rapid innovations in networking and telecommunications technologies have accelerated the pace of globalization of the emerging Internet Economy. These technological innovations have created unprecedented opportunities for companies in emerging nations such as China, to compete globally by leveling the playing field. At a time when multinational corporations are withdrawing from Asia due to the recent financial crisis, Cisco Systems, is taking a long-term view and increasing our investment in Asia, leveraging our position as the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet and the converging telecommunications market.
"As a business leader I would like to express my thanks to President Jiang for his leadership role in the recent Asian financial crisis. I would also like to reaffirm Cisco Systems' long-term commitment to China, with continued investments in the form of technology laboratories, Cisco Networking Academy education program, joint research and development programs, and local manufacturing alliances. Through these investments, we aim to cooperate with the Chinese government in training a new generation of knowledge workers who can take on the challenges of the emerging Internet Economy."
In conclusion, President Jiang Zemin wished Cisco continued success in China, and re-emphasised his desire to see further cooperation between the Chinese government and Cisco Systems, as part of his government's efforts to strengthen the IT industry and further accelerate the pace of modernisation.
Cisco is the largest networking company in China, and has enjoyed tremendous growth in this market, achieving a year-on-year revenue growth of over 100 percent for the past two years. Over the last 12 months, Cisco has increased its China staff by 500 percent, and continues to invest heavily in this country.
During the past three-and-a-half years as president and CEO of Cisco Systems, Chambers has grown the company from US$1.2 billion in annual revenues to its current run-rate of more than US$8.5 billion. Cisco is already the fastest growing company in the history of the computer industry.
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