Foreign firms reap big TEDA rewards in North China

TIANJIN - Every 74 seconds, a car rolls off the assembly line of Tianjin FAW Toyota Motor Co Ltd in a development zone in Tianjin.

Built in 2002, the joint venture between China's FAW Group and Toyota Motor Corp sold 510,000 vehicles in 2017, raking in sales revenue of nearly 60 billion yuan ($8.8 billion), according to Wang Gang, general manager of the company.

FAW Toyota is one of thousands of foreign-funded companies that have boomed in the Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Area, established in 1984 when China announced the opening-up of 14 coastal cities, as well as building economic and development areas.