EDS, a US-based information technology services company, said yesterday it has opened a world-class service center in central city Wuhan.

It is China's first global service center and is expected to break into the Chinese IT outsourcing market valued US$1.5 billion.

EDS, a spin-off IT service unit from General Motors, said the new center would have a staff of 1,400 in Wuhan Optic-Valley Software Park.

The center is the company's fourth global service center and it will serve as a delivery center for IT services to enterprises not only within China, but also around the world, according to EDS.

The facility, together with EDS's Best Shore facilities in Shanghai, provides services such as application development and maintenance.

EDS's other GSCs are in Argentina, Hungary and India.

"EDS offers IT services across a spectrum of industries from manufacturing to financial services to transportation. EDS is aligned to partner with the Chinese government as the country develops its IT industry," David Wirt, corporate vice president and managing director of EDS China and Korea, said in a statement.

EDS, which invested US$40 million in China in the past three years, hasn't provided the center's investment.

In 2006, China's software outsourcing market revenue reached US$1.43 billion, a jump of 55 percent from the previous year. It is projected to hit US$7.03 billion by 2010, according to CCID Consulting, a Beijing-based IT consulting firm.

Meanwhile, EDS partnered with the Ministry of Commerce in June to boost the country's role as a global giant in IT services market, which is dominated by India.

EDS has 22,000 employees in Asia Pacific and it plans to add 1,200 more staff by the end of 2007 and an additional 3,000 by 2009.