Dalian Presoft Co Ltd, a new software business has opened in Dalian, a coastal city in Liaoning province.

"The new company is dedicated to being a bridge between Japanese customers and Chinese service providers in the IT sector," said Presoft president Li Yuanming. Presoft will focus on IT services and training for its Japanese and Chinese partners, Li said.

"With a staff of more than 540 people, we are confident that we can double our output value every year for the next three years. It is expected to be 70 million yuan this year, and reach $50 million by 2010," he said.

Li was one of the founders of Dalian-based Hisoft Technology International Ltd, now one of China's top three global IT service providers. He resigned from his position as president of Hisoft, which focuses on Japan to United States IT trade, and began work ing on a company bridging Japan and China.

Presoft is supported by Hisoft and JBCC Holdings Inc, a Japan-based IT company, which has cooperated with Hisoft since 1998.

Last year, Dalian announced its plan to become a major hub for the global software and outsourcing industry. In 2007, its sales revenue and the export volume were 21.5 billion yuan and 720 million yuan respectively, with a year-on-year increase of 48 percent and 60 percent respectively.