Overseas investment in the Yangtze Delta, centered around Shanghai, has kept rising rapidly for the past several years.

The Yangtze River Delta, one of China's economic powerhouses, comprises Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.

From January to April, Zhejiang ratified 873 enterprises funded by overseas capital with US$2.77 billion of contract investment, up 33.5 percent and 101.8 percent respectively from the same period last year.

Provincial officials asserted Zhejiang's overseas investment this year was expected to double that of 2001, as overseas investment in 2001 was nearly twice that of the previous year.

With China's WTO entry, some multinationals have set up research or manufacturing centers in the Yangtze River Delta and expedited investment in the area.

Jean Voynet, president of China's procurement center of the France-based Carrefour, said the area was the first choice for many multinationals thanks to its fast economic development, abundant capital and human resources.

Consortia from Taiwan Province have also injected capital into the delta. By September 2001, a total of 77 consortia, listed in the top 100 consortia in Taiwan, had invested there in manufacturing, finance, securities, insurance, shipping and high-tech enterprises.

In 2001, many Taiwanese businesses shifted their high-tech focus to the delta. The first quarter of 2002 saw 105 enterprises set up by Taiwanese with 265 million US dollars' contract investment, up 133 percent and 145 percent respectively from the same period last year.

According to sources from the Taiwan Academy of Finance, eight banks in Taiwan Province had applied to open offices in the mainland and five of them chose the delta, where investment from Taiwan was very intense.

According to survey results cited by a researcher of Wisconsin University at an economic forum in Zhejiang, in terms of investment environment, the top 11 cities in the Mainland were in the delta and the top three were Wujiang in Jiangsu Province, Ningbo and Hangzhou, in Zhejiang Province.

The survey was based on research of the natural environment, infrastructure construction, public establishment, social environment, politics and law environment.

The survey indicated that the delta had become the first choicefor most overseas investors because of its steady investment environment and quick profit returns.

(Xinhua News Agency July 4, 2002)