Chinese internet services giant Tencent released a brand new typeface on Nov 14 in an effort to expand its global presence.

The new typeface was designed in line with global standards by Monotype and Tencent, under the guidance of Monotype designer Akira Kobayashi, and produced by Weifang Beida Jade Bird Huaguang Imagesetter Systems Co Ltd, a company located in the Weifang Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone.

The new italicized font looks more modern, coordinated and dynamic, and has been used in Tencent's new logo on the company's building.

Looking back on its cooperation with Weifang Beida Jade Bird Huaguang, Ricky Chun, executive manager of Monotype Hong Kong, said: "Huaguang provided premium services and helped us to solve all our problems. Our design has received recognition from clients and designers."

Huaguang has made a name for itself in the Chinese font production industry. It has participated in setting more than 100 national-level industry standards, among which 78 have been ratified. In 2017, the company received an award for its innovation in industrial standards from the city of Weifang in Shandong province.

Huaguang is one of the many service providers in the zone that have become renowned across China for their professional services. Shandong Newocean Software, an information technology service provider, has obtained official certifications, including ISO9001 for quality management, and has been engaged in many national-level projects. Enyuan Technology has become a national-level e-commerce demonstration business and has launched two provincial-level research and development platforms.

Enyuan has established itself as a regional e-commerce platform service provider in China. The Singles Day shopping festival on Nov 11 developed by online retailing giant Alibaba has provided opportunities for Enyuan this year to promote its brand awareness. It provided many special products to its members on Nov 11.

By the end of 2017, Enyuan had 300,000 registered members and over 30,000 business members. Its platform provides more than 10,000 types of products in 13 categories. Its sales revenue reached 620 million yuan ($94.64 million) in 2016. The company forecast its year-on-year sales revenue growth rate will reach 20 percent for 2017.

The Weifang Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone has made great efforts to support modern service industry development over the past few years. It has supported 15 modern service projects that involved a total of 3.8 billion yuan in investment since 2016, covering sectors such as e-commerce and animation. It has also supported Weichai Group to build a national makerspace and a cloud service platform.

The zone has successfully attracted 206 information technology service enterprises, including 19 big companies, and companies specializing in e-commerce, service outsourcing, design and creation, and software development sectors.

The zone has paid significant attention to streamlining its administration and delegating government power, aiming to create a better business environment. The time taken to register business projects in the zone has shortened from 20 working days to just two.

"As a gathering place for talent, technology and capital, the zone offers important advantages and bright prospects for the knowledge-intensive, new-generation IT industry," said Xu Zhiqiang, general manager of Huaguang.

Zhuang Jian contributed to this story.

(China Daily 01/05/2018 page12)