Timothy Chen, former president of Motorola China, will hold the newly created position of CEO for Microsoft's greater China region, according to a report from Dow Jones. He will start Sept. 1 and will be responsible for supervising all of the company?s business lines in the region.
Chen's move to Microsoft is another sign of the country's importance to the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant. Among other factors, the growth of the open-source Linux operating system has spurred friendly overtures from Microsoft to the Chinese government.
The company began donating money to educational projects and investing in joint ventures with local companies in 2002 in a bid to improve diplomatic ties with China.
Recently, Microsoft signed a pact with Chinese officials to reveal Windows code, making China among the first to benefit from its program to allay the security fears of governments.
CNETAsia staff reported from Singapore.
