An increasing number of overseas enterprises and companies are pouring capital into the Xishan District of Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu Province, as a result of the local government's persistent efforts to cater to the needs of investors.
Statistics indicate that the contractual overseas fund and the actual use of overseas capital in the first eight months of this year increased 200 percent respectively, reaching US$400 million and US$150 million.
This encouraging situation is attributable to the continued emphasis on the infrastructure construction of the district's economic development zone and the building of new industrial sectors, according to Guo Shinan, deputy head of the Xishan District.
As a concentrated area of overseas investment, the economic development zone is continuously receiving special attention from the local government.
This year, about US$37 million (300 million yuan), the largest ever annual input of funds, was put into the zone's infrastructure construction, renovating the electricity network, upgrading the waste water disposal factory and building roads and bridges.
"The improved environment has proven to be appealing to investors when they make decisions after touring the zone," said Guo.
Another measure the administration committee has taken is to set up specialized areas in the zone for different industrial sectors. According to the general layout, a new and high-tech section, a commerce and trade section and an industrial section have been established successively.
Attention has also been paid to the development of new and high-tech industries. Among the 30 projects signed with enterprises and firms from Taiwan Province, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and some European countries in the first half of this year, a large proportion concentrates in electronics and telecommunications, precision machine manufacturing and specialized textile manufacturing.
To accelerate the development, the Xishan District designated September as the business promotion month. During this period, hundreds of business people from the United States, Germany, Britain, China's Taiwan and Hong Kong gathered in Xishan, seeking opportunities for cooperation.
It is reported that 14 project agreements were signed with a total investment of US$400 million and more tentative cooperation projects were discussed.
(China Daily 10/08/2001)
