Reuters has officially opened a development centre in Beijing's Zhongguancun Software Park, often dubbed China's Silicon Valley.
The centre will provide support and services to Reuters' 3000Xtra desktop terminal and other key products and the media giant says it will triple the operation's staff to 600 in three years.
The centre will also input data related to mergers and acquisitions, company financial reports and forecasts, and economic data for markets in China, South Korea and Japan.
Reuters chief executive Tom Glocer says the investment made in the new centre -- reportedly $10m -- underscores the vendor's commitment to China.
The opening of the centre comes at a delicate time for Reuters' China strategy. The UK-based firm has been trying to mend fences after the recent uproar in the west about a supposed new rule governing foreign media in China.
As described in this earlier EngagingChina story, the rule was seen as harming western interests by requiring all information to be distributed by the state-run agency, Xinhua. Glocer initially branded the rule a "substantial threat".
China's Premier Wen Jiabao was then dragged into the controversy during an overseas trip to UK, when he told foreign media that they had to abide by China's laws.
It later turned out that nothing really had changed and the rules for foreign media doing business in China were as they always had been.
To mend bridges, Glocer met with his counterpart at Xinhua earlier this week. The two firms apparently agreed to bury the hatchet and cooperate, according to this admittedly self-interested account by Xinhua.
The controversy shows the problems that even seasoned western firms have doing business in China, particularly in politically sensitive areas like the media.
Nevertheless, Reuters has decided that with the growing amount of financial news and information coming out of China, it makes sense to have a more substantial presence and, most importantly from a political point of view, to show it is there to stay by locating a new software development centre in China.
Reuters agreed to set up in Zhongguancun Software Park last December.
