From Ancient Capital to High-Tech Hub: Xi'an to Host Tech-World Leaders for the Global Programmer's Festival 2018.

- The announcement was made by Secretary of the Standing Committee of the Xi'an Municipal Committee, Zhong Hongjiang during a press conference to an audience of local and international government officials, leading enterprise figures and media. The conference was hosted by Zhang Xiaoning, Director of the Xi'an Municipal Information Office, and attended by Dr. Henry Chen, Chairman of Chinasoft International; Gao Sumei, Executive Secretary of the China Information Technology Industry Federation; and Wang Hairuo, the Deputy Director of Xi'an Hi-tech Industries Development Zone Administration Office. "Xi'an is regarded as a special place for its history, location and future as a model city in China. Designated as an experimental national reform and Innovation Centre and central element of the Belt and Road Initiative, this vibrant city, with its long history of innovation, is the clear choice to host the 2nd Global Programmer's Festival," said Zhong Hongjiang. The first Global Programmer's Festival, held in 2017, welcomed more than 2,500 attendees, ministry-level government officials, executives from the world's top 500 companies and household-names including HSBC, Huawei, and Baidu. Also attending this year are students of the late Prof. Stephen Hawking, French Scientist and Author of The Universe in Your Hand, Christophe Galfard, Design Thinking influencers, renowned academicians, industry leaders, and top-tier tech companies like Infosys. Dr. Henry Chen, Chairman of the Board of Chinasoft International, commented: "Although titled the Global Programmer's Festival, it goes far beyond programming. It is an event for regional economic cooperation, knowledge exchange, pragmatic innovation and cultivation of talent; it covers the full spectrum of the digital world and how to prepare for a future defined by software." In support of the Global Programmer's festival, Director of Xi'an Hi-tech Industries Development Zone Administration Office Yang Renhua will conduct a series of international outreach programmes, including leading a delegation to Israel to launch the event alongside the "Father of Entrepreneurship" and founder of the Tel Aviv Innovation Festival, the largest entrepreneurial innovation activity in Europe and the Middle East, and joint partner of the Global Programmer's Festival.  For more information on the Global Programmer's Festival, please visit: http://en.codingthefuture.com/ About the Global Programmer's Festival The Global Programmer's Festival, with the theme of "Coding for the Future" invites industry leaders and tech elites from home and abroad to gather in Xi'an. The festival aims to build talent, capital investment and innovation through a series of forums and competitions. As a leading annual event in the tech industry calendar, it provides a national platform for programmers from across the world to communicate, share ideas, inspire and grow together.