Introduction
Besides Suzhou, Wuxi is another important manufacturing base in Jiangsu province. Wuxi borders Changzhou on the west and Suzhou on the east. Together, the three cities form the Su-Xi-Chang Area, the most advanced region in Jiangsu. In 2003, they accounted for 45% of Jiangsuæ?? GDP, more than 70% of its export value and 65% of total FDI of Jiangsu province.
Township enterprises used to be the driving force of southern Jiangsu, in places such as Suzhou and Wuxi. But the development zones have overtaken them since the 1990s.
Wuxi New District (WND) is now the main contributor to Wuxi's development, and is fast becoming the cornerstone of its high-tech industry. WND started with Wuxi High-tech Industrial Development Zone, which was subsequently made a state-level high-tech industrial development zone in 1992. Then, in late 1993, Wuxi Singapore Industrial Park (WSIP), a cooperative project between China and Singapore was established with a first phase area of 2.35 km2.
Now, besides being a manufacturing base, township development is also included as one of the functions of the development zone, and it has been formally named as Wuxi New District. To boost export, Wuxi Export Processing Zone (WXEPZ) was established in June 2002 and is a state level EPZ.
WND is located in the southeastern part of Wuxi city, and is 6 km from the downtown area. Wuxi Airport is located in WND, and is capable of operating B-737 business jets. More than 30 regular domestic flights will be launched by the end of 2004. Freight services will be launched later and a logistics center will be set up to accommodate operations.
WND is 96 km to Shanghai Hongqiao Airport and 160 km to Pudong Airport. Hu-Ning (Shanghai-Nanjing) Expressway and State highway G312 go through WND. WND is 130 km from Shanghai Port, the largest port in China and 40 km from Zhangjiagang Port, the largest inland river port in China.
In 2000, WND became an ISO 14000 certified National Exemplary Area. Major industries at WND include electronics, information technology, electromechanical engineering, bioengineering, new materials, and fine chemical engineering.
Investment Climate
WND has achieved great success in wooing foreign investment. By end- 2003, WND had approved 891 foreign invested projects, with total investment of USD 11.4 billon. USD 4 billion has been utilized.
40 Fortune 500 MNCs have established subsidiaries in the district. These include Kodak, Seagate, GE and Maxell from the US;Sharp, Hitachi, Nittobo, Toshiba and Matsushita from Japan; Siemens, Bosch and Bayer from Germany; Astra and Volvo Penta from Sweden; Auchan from France; Valmet from Finland; Roche from Switzerland; and President Group from Taiwan. Indeed, 44 enterprises have set up their R&D centers in WND.
Meanwhile, WND has also strengthened its ties with foreign counterparts. It has established cooperation with some international counterparts, such as Newland Science Park in the United Kingdom and the Triangle Research Park in North Carolina, USA.
The biggest investment it has attracted, however, is WSIP. Although the size of WSIP is much smaller than China - Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP), it plays a very important role in attracting foreign investment and enhancing the management skills of WND as a whole.
By the end of 2003, when WSIP turned ten, it had attracted 75 foreign projects and total investment of USD 1.6 billion, with USD 1.2 billion utilized, making up 30% of total utilized FDI in WND. The total area of WSIP has now reached 10 km2. The first phase of WSIP (2.35 km2) has been developed, and 1.83 km2 is under development. The industrial focus of WSIP is electronics, optical technology, information technology, telecommunications equipment, medical and healthcare products, automotive and aerospace components.
WND is likely to secure another big project. Hynix, STMicro, and the Wuxi government will co-invest USD 1.5 billion in WND. The project is expected to kick off at the end of 2004.
In WND, an Agricultural High-tech Park, which is well-supported by Nanjing Agricultural University, and the Wuxi Entrepreneurship Park for Overseas Chinese Scholars have also been established. The latter has been granted the status of national incubation center for Chinese students returning from overseas studies. The Park facilitates these returnees' pursuit of advanced R&D and their setting up of new ventures. Wuxi Evermore Software, Zhongxing Light-Electronics Technology Co. Ltd. and Baitai Research Institute at Wuxi University of Light Industry are among such successful start-up ventures.
Fuelled by foreign investment, WND has been growing fast in the past ten years. The average GDP growth rate exceeded 50%. In 2003, the Districtæ?? GDP reached RMB 23.6 billion (USD 2.85 billion), one of the highest in China.
