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)