Xinhua News Agency recently reported that China and Germany have launched an inter-governmental collaboration to jointly develop high-end software products, known as the Sino-German Joint Software Institute (SGJSI), an initiative of China's ministry of science and technology and Germany's ministry of education and research.

The SGJSI is the first international hi-tech body co-sponsored by Beijing and is directed by David Zhang, who said the institute's aim was to study and design software strategies for the Chinese software industry, to develop advanced software for telecom technology, and to "incubate" and support software start-ups.

According to Zhang, the institute, which is funded jointly by the Chinese and German governments, will bid for China's national hi-tech projects, German projects, European Union Sixth Framework projects and other projects mandated by the private sector.