Gou announced the plan at a conference recently held in Taichung of central Taiwan promoting the interflow between Taiwan's and Beijing's business circles.

Gou noted that by cooperating to tap mainland China's cloud computing market, the two sides can work hand in hand to venture into the global market. He added that the cooperation between Taiwan and the mainland marks a synergy for both sides as the mainland offers huge market base while Taiwan is noted for information-technology hardware and software.

According to Gou, Digital China has designated cloud computing as its prior business for development in the near future. So far, the company has offered services to tax authorities, customs and banks in the mainland.

Gou said his company and Quanta will set up cloud computing facilities in other cities in the mainland after the one in Shanghai. Digital China, he noted, is working on similar project with Asustek Computer Inc. besides Quanta.

Digital China is reportedly the mainland's No.1 integrated service provider of information-technology products, controlling a quarter of the mainland market with its 12,000 stores. The company was split from Lenovo Group in 2001. It has made initial public offering on Hong Kong Stock Exchange and floated Taiwan Depository Receipts (TDRs) on Taiwan Stock Exchange.

Industry executives estimated Digital China to earn HK$0.9-1 in after-tax net income for 2010. The company made HK$3.4 billion (US$442 million at US$1:HK$7.7) in after-tax net income in fiscal 2009, which ended on March 31, 2010.