Wuxi City will become an international manufacturing center within three years, banking on the increasingly closer economic ties between China, South Korea and Japan, city officials said.
In the first seven months of 2004, Wuxi's trade with South Korea and Japan soared, officials said at the Taihu Expo, held in the city in Jiangsu Province.
Its exports to S. Korea surged 83.6 percent to US$310 million in the period and its imports from the country also soared to US$520 million, a year-on-year growth of 73.7 percent.
Wuxi's imports from Japan reached US$1.9 billion, a 92.5 percent year increase year-on-year. Exports to the country reached US$790 million, up 35 percent year-on-year.
Multinationals from the two countries also make up the majority of companies that have set up factories or research and development centers in the city.
Sony has invested US$99.25 million in Wuxi to manufacture laptops, hard-disk video recorders and plasma TV sets. South Korea-based LG now has three industrial parks, with a investment of US$100 million.
"Today, global economic competition is shifted from between countries to between regions," Long Yongtu, former vice minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, said during the Second East Asia Business Forum yesterday. Cities, such as Wuxi, will play an important role and benefit a lot from the integration, he added.