The first Global Programmers Festival was held in Xi'an, Shaanxi province from Nov 9 - 10 last year.

Experts and programmers attend the first Global Programmers' Festival held in Xi'an, Shaanxi province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Discussions by renowned experts, competitions featuring top programmers, fairs, exhibitions and other exciting activities attracted the attention of millions of people both online and offline.

The festival capitalized on Xi'an's role as a leader in the software industry and built a multi-level communication platform for global software IT personnel.

It effectively promoted the construction of the "Digital Silk Road" based on the cloud and drove exchange and cooperation between Xi'an and countries along the Belt and Road.

The festival also contributed to Xi'an's development into "China's Software City" and "Western China's Silk Road Silicon Valley".

In addition to the dazzling opening ceremony, the festival also provided some brain candy for programmers and those involved in the software industry.

The main forum gathered industry leaders to share, explore and forecast the future development of the software industry.

At the beginning of the forum, Lv Dongguo, director of the Xi'an Software Park Development Center, released the "Digital Silk Road Silicon Valley – Human Resources White Paper on Software Information Technology Service in Xi'an Hi-tech Industries Development Zone ".

Talent is the core resource of the software industry. The white paper comprehensively demonstrated the high-tech zone’s human resource advantages and personnel development strategies in the field of software information technology.

A recruitment activity was also held during the festival. Mora than 70 well-known domestic and international enterprises, such as Alibaba Cloud, Samsung, Hikvision, ChinaSoft International, Dangdang and 360, provided nearly 1,000 jobs to programmers.

"Xi'an has an adequate supply of human resources and technical resources in the software industry. Last year, our base in the high-tech zone recruited more than eight thousand people. Ninety-six universities supplied personnel to us," said Chen Yuhong, Chairman and CEO of ChinaSoft International Co.

He hoped the festival would gain global attention. "I hope it will give outstanding students and programmers from around the globe a chance to see and understand Xi'an, especially the strong support it receives from the municipal Party committee and municipal government, and its strong industrial foundation and advantages in the software industry," he added.

Xi'an is in a great position. It took the festival and the Belt and Road Initiative as opportunities to develop its software industry.

Xi'an will gather high-tech industries and personnel as it strives to become the "Silicon Valley on the Silk Road" and strengthen cooperation on intelligence and high-end technical services with countries and regions along the Belt and Road.

The development of Xi'an's software industry won the recognition of foreigners.

Aaron Patterson, a well-known programmer in Silicon Valley, was impressed by the development of Xi'an's software industry.

"The Xi'an government's strong support for the development of the industry is something that I did not expect. For myself and my company, Xi'an is definitely an opportunity," he added.

The software industry has become an important force in promoting technological innovation, promoting economic transformation and improving social services.

Xi'an is the starting point of the ancient Silk Road. It is in a position to lead innovation and development in the domestic software industry and has a geographical basis for further deepening international cooperation.

Through the first Global Programmers' Festival, Xi'an demonstrated to the world its long-term development potential and advantages in terms of industrial base, human resources, innovation capabilities and three-dimensional transportation network construction.

Xi'an Software Park is home to more than 90 percent of industrial enterprises in Xi'an and is one of only four parks in China to have earned both the "National Software Industry Base" and the "National Software Export Base" titles.

As a center for entrepreneurship in the high-tech zone, Xi'an Cloud Software Park will become the main battlefield for the transformation and upgrading of the software service industry.

It will create a hotbed for innovation and entrepreneurship, promote the rapid development of Xi'an's software and information service industries and build a world-class science and technology park.