Year

Time

1992

Microsoft opens its first office in Beijing

1993

The foundation of Microsoft Beijing Test Center.  

1995

The establishment of Microsoft China and Microsoft China Research & Development center

1998

Microsoft China Research Institute founded in Beijing

2001

Microsoft China Research Institute became Microsoft Research Asia (MSRA).  

2003

Advanced Technology Center (ATC) founded in Beijing

2004

Microsoft Asia Center for Hardware (MACH) established

2005

Cloud + Enterprise (Server and Tools Business) founded in Shanghai

01/18/2006

Microsoft officially incorporated Microsoft Asia-Pacific R&D Group (Microsoft China R&D Group

04/21/2007

Bill Gates visited China for the 10th time and expresses his plan to increase investments in R&D in Beijing and Shanghai

05/06/2008

APRD held a ceremony to lay the foundation stone of its new headquarters in Zhongguancun, Beijing.  

01/25/2010

Microsoft China R&D Group renamed to Microsoft Asia-pacific Research and Development Group (APRD).  

03/31/2010

Shanghai High-tech phase one campus opened. This is the first R&D and service campus invested by Microsoft outside of US.  

05/25/2011

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer officially opened the APRD headquarters in Beijing with space for 5000 employees.  

07/07/2012

Microsoft vice president S. Somasegar announced the official launch of Microsoft’s Cloud Accelerator.  

06/06/2013

Public cloud platform and services Windows Azure established in China

07/07/2013

Microsoft Ventures opened in China, bringing a world-class standard for startup incubation.  

29/05/2014

Beta version of the AI chatbot Xiaoice published to all users.  

26/01/2016

Microsoft’s 10th consecutive year of being awarded for best cooperation award by the Minster of Education.  

14/11/2016

Microsoft Research Asia Alumni Association was founded

22/01/2017

Microsoft Accelerator Shanghai founded. China became the only country in the world where Microsoft has two accelerators