China planning its way into Business Process Outsourcing?

Sometimes it seems like everyone I know in India is either starting a BPO firm or working for one! Entrepreneurs all over the country have started BPO firms focusing on every conceivable business process. While the Indian government policies have helped somewhat, most Indian BPO entrepreneurs seem to see the Indian government more as a necessary evil than as a core promoter of BPO market growth.

Interestingly enough China seems to be taking a more planned approach. Ecommerce Times reports:

The China Development Bank (CDB) will issue 5 billion yuan (US$632.7 million) worth of credit to foster service outsourcing in five cities.

Chinese Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai said at the inauguration ceremony for the five cities, which are Chengdu, Xi'an, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Dalian, that the ministry will take measures to promote the fast growth of service outsourcing in the next five years.

Under the country's 6th Five-Year (2006-2010) plan, China aims to build service outsourcing bases in 10 cities, encourage 100 multinationals to outsource services from China, and foster 1,000 large and medium-sized service outsourcing enterprises.

It will be interesting to see whether China's planned approach will be more effective than India's unruly but entrepreneurial milieu. I admit I am biased, but my bet is on India.