India’s largest technology firm, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), plans to recruit more than 3,500 people in China over the next four years to grow its business and and tap into the vast pool of Chinese engineers. TCS currently employs about 1300 people in China and over 5000 staff in the Asia Pacific, outside of India.

While the economic slowdown has whittled away income from financial services, TCS still expects Asian revenues to grow next year due to its large pipeline of existing projects. TCS last month opened a global delivery centre in Tianjin, China to support domestic companies as well as to provide business process outsourcing for Japan, the US and Europe. It also has centres in Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou and an office in Shenzhen.

It was reported two weeks ago that India’s top software companies are shifting focus to seek out lucrative business opportunities with China’s leading banks, including China Construction Bank (CCB), Agricultural Bank of China, among others, which are planning to spend around US$7.6 billion on IT next year.

After entering the China market, TCS has successfully bagged one big deal every year; starting with a contract from Huaxia Bank in 2005, Bank of China in 2006 and Guangdong Rural Credit Union last year. TCS BaNCS was was ranked the number one technology provider in China for 2 consecutive years by IT analyst firm IDC.

Emerging markets like China make up 20% of Tata’s orders, while those from the US have fallen below 50% due to the financial crisis, Girija Pande, head of TCS Asia Pacific told China Business News as reported in China Daily. Indian software outsourcing firms have apparently gone on an ‘acquisition spree’ to buy up small and medium-sized Chinese peers in an attempt to ramp up their presence in the region.

Infosys BPO, the business process outsourcing subsidiary of India’s other top IT company Infosys Technologies, also recently announced the launch of its second BPO delivery centre in Hangzhou, China, which will have a seating capacity of 1,000.