MUMBAI: IBM the world's largest computer services company, said on Tuesday it would set up two new IT solutions centres in India and China, underscoring the Asian countries' growing importance as a hub for outsourcing.  

The new centres,in the Chinese capital of Beijing and Pune in western India, will each employ 500 people, Jeby Cherian, director of IBM's global business solutions centre said from Bangalore. 

Earlier in October, IBM relocated its global procurement headquarters to Shenzhen in southern China. The company has also made India a global delivery hub for software needs and client services.