Setting up for an enterprising future

Supporting measures aim to help attract more leading enterprises

The city of Wuxi in east China's Jiangsu province aims to attract more multinational companies to set up regional headquarters and functional branches in order to promote its industry transformation and upgrading.

"In recent years, Wuxi has been positively looking for more effective ways to promote its economic transformation and industry upgrading, and especially to develop as a model city of modern industry," said Wang Xing, director of Wuxi Commerce Bureau.

"In this regard, we have looked to cultivate a company headquarters-centered economy to drive the city's economic development," Wang added.

In 2012, the province's commercial and financial departments jointly issued a range of policies and supporting measures to encourage more multinational companies to establish regional headquarters and functional organizations in the region. The measures included preferential land use and funding support.

To the same end, Wuxi has also introduced a series of measures including land use subsidies, operation funding support and management incentives for qualified companies.

It has also improved consultation procedures and communication with enterprises and carries out regular assessments to ensure that allocated funds are used effectively.

To date, 27 companies that have established regional headquarters and functional organizations in Wuxi have received more than 37 million yuan ($5.7 million) in financial support. Among the 27, 11 multinational companies, including Ariston, Bhler Group, Zhongzhi Traffic Technology and Gaode Electronic, have chosen Wuxi as the location for their regional headquarters. Their total investment amount has reached $2.85 billion, with a total registered capital of $1.26 billion.

Wang said compared with other areas, Wuxi has its own unique advantages and competitive strengths that allow it to attract multinational companies, such as favorable policies, unique location, strong manufacturing industry foundation, high service industry level and good infrastructure for business development.

These competitive advantages give Wuxi a clear edge in attracting foreign investment and developing a company headquarters-centered economy, Wang said.

Wang noted that encouraging multinational companies to set up functional organizations such as R&D centers will help promote the city's progress in science and technology and transform its industry transformation from traditional labor-intensive industries.

"To attract more companies to set up R&D centers in Wuxi will ensure that their development is stable and embedded in the city. Meanwhile, it will drive the development of the entire industry chain instead of (only) traditional manufacturing and production," Wang said.

Wang added that R&D centers will also help attract more professionals and talents to the city, and promote the growth of high-end industries.

Wuxi has already seen good results from its drive to promote the development of multinational companies in the region.

For example, the London-based pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca was among the first batch of companies to set up regional headquarters in the city, and it recently injected an additional $50 million into Wuxi to build further development and manufacturing facilities.

The Switzerland-based Bhler Group, a machines, plants and services specialist for the grain and food processing sector, has also increased its investment in Wuxi, by $93.6 million.

Contact the writer at wanghongyi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 08/12/2016 page14)