Foreign investment sees significant progress due to improved policies

Wuxi National High-tech District has vowed to improve the level of opening-up and expand the development space.

The comprehensive bonded zone of WND reported a total import and export value of $19.06 billion, an increase of 37.4 percent year-on-year. This is due to the high-level opening-up, an official said.

Through the reform of non-customs-declaration cargo management, the cargo enters and leaves the zone faster, which benefits enterprises. The scope of domestic goods entering and leaving the zone has been expanded and the speed has been increased. Now it can pass through in half a day, which saves time and reduces the cost of logistics, officials from WND's comprehensive bonded zone said.

Since 2018, WND has reformed non-customs declaration goods management and promoted the classification and supervision of warehouse goods according to their status, which optimizes the business environment.

Meanwhile, WND has seen robust development in foreign investment, with $1.3 billion registered from January to November 2018, ranking top in Jiangsu province. The advanced manufacturing industry accounted for 67 percent of the total foreign investment.

WND has attached more importance to the quality of foreign investment. A number of key projects such as LG Group's automotive battery project, a smart manufacturing industrial park of Japan Murata Manufacturing Co and SK hynix's M8 lab, each worth over 5 billion yuan ($738.86 million), have settled in this area.

WND also provides services to companies, helping them go through relevant formalities.

An executive from LG Group's automotive battery project said WND has provided high-quality services and support for the project in terms of land and policy.

The company will strive to build the Wuxi plant into one of the best LG chemical plants, he said.

According to the administrative examination and approval department at WND, the district has further promoted reform by improving service and optimizing the approval process since 2018. Enterprises are expected to finish registration and start operation within three working days, acquire real property rights certificates within three working days, and acquire licenses for industrial project production and construction within 33 working days.

By the end of 2018, 50 leading companies had established headquarters in WND.

AstraZeneca, the world's leading supplier of prescription drugs and medical services, is pushing forward the headquarters development strategy, setting up a Chinese sales headquarters, business innovation center and R&D center for innovative biomedicine at WND.

WND said it aims to be a good platform for opening-up and will make greater efforts to get foreign companies to set up headquarters and transnational corporation bases there. By 2020, WND plans to introduce more than 100 domestic and foreign companies, who are part of the Global Fortune 500 companies, more than 100 foreign high-tech enterprises, and more than 100 foreign research and development centers. Meanwhile, it plans to gather more than 100 headquarters of multinational corporations.

Since 2018, WND has diversified foreign investment utilization, ranging from cross-border mergers and acquisitions and equity investment to round-tripping investment. It can help domestic and foreign companies expand sales and achieve win-win results, an official said earlier.

Last year, the world's leading mechanical and vehicle engineering supplier Bucher Industries acquired Wuxi Deli Hydraulics Co.