Shanghai Daily News

An advanced manufacturing base along the bank of the Yangtze River has taken shape in the Jiangyin City.
Under its ongoing construction of Jiangyin Economic Development Zone, which was kicked off in 1992 along the bank of the Yangtze River, the city has attracted many foreign-invested firms.
These include the DSM Group, a Dutch provider of life-science products, performance materials and industrial chemicals; the Belgium-based Bekaert Group, provider of metal transformation, coatings and materials; and the Owens Corning Group, a supplier of building materials from the United States.
In the first three months of this year, the zone introduced 32 foreign-invested projects.
Twenty-four of these involved investment of more than US$10 million each.
At the same time, the zone's overseas contracted investment in use reached US$520 million and direct overseas investment in use hit US$210 million, both registering a robust increase of more than 15 percent year-on-year.
A Korean investor said the city's convenient traffic makes it attractive to foreign companies that want to enlarge their markets in China.
Located beside Yangtze River, Jiangyin has strong traffic lines both on roads and on water.
To take advantage of its prime location, the city has reconstructed its economic development zone along the river.
More and more foreign investors have launched manufacturing bases in the Yangtze Delta because of its cheaper labor and distribution network.
By the end of last year, the zone had attracted 1,399 foreign-invested projects with contracted investment in use at US$4.26 billion and direct investment of US$2.25 billion.
Twelve of the projects involve investment of more than US$100 million each.
The area's growth has been based on eight pillar industries: IT; steel; electric power; biological and pharmaceutical; metal fabrication; oil and chemicals; packaging; and logistics.
Based on those industries, the city expects to open stores stretching from the edge of its manufacturing zone to the city center to enlarge the business for the enterprises in the zone.
In 2002, the zone also opened Jingjiang Park in Jingjiang City, its neighbor separated by the Yangtze River, to seek more land for its development.
As the nearest northern neighbor to Shanghai, Jiangyin City is a county-level city in Jiangsu Province.
In recent years, it has been the largest electric power base in southeast China.
When the third and fourth construction phases of Jiangsu Ligang Electric Power Co Ltd are completed, the total power capacity will reach 3.8 million kilowatts.
In the first three months this year, overseas direct investment in the city hit US$247 million, while it was US$132 million from January to February.