China gets new cloud company with Wanda, IBM agreement

A new deal has been signed between Wanda Internet Technology Group and IBM, resulting in the new organisation - Wanda Cloud Company.

IBM's chief executive officer, president and chairman Ginni Rometty was at the signing ceremony in Beijing alongside Wanda Group chairman Wang Jianlin.

The new company will mean Chinese businesses will have access to certain IBM cloud infrastructure and platform as a service technologies (IaaS and PaaS).

These cloud based solutions can help businesses improve efficiency and productivity as well as drive innovation.

While continuing to innovate it's platform, IBM will ensure that Wanda can provide cloud services that will drive digital transformation across China.

The agreement is designed to answer China's growing demand for cloud computing and cognitive capabilities in the Chinese market  and support China's "Internet+" strategy.

The partnership will be used to unveil IBM's Watson services to the Chinese market, starting with Conversation services.

Conversation services allow developers to add natural language interactions between an app and the customers.

The partnership has plans for additional Watson services in the future with the focus being to continue providing a competitive cloud platform in China.