REGIONAL> Development
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REGIONAL> Development
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Suzhou Industrial Park sees signs of recovery
By Song Wenwei (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-04-14 16:22
Workers are busy with new orders at Positec Machinery, the world’s 7th largest handheld power tool manufacturer.
Though the global financial crisis has dealt a blow on several enterprises in the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) over the past few months, signs of recovery have appeared at last with an increase in export volume in the first quarter of this year, sources from the SIP said. Since the second half of last year, economic downturn has been present in almost every industrial sector in China, and the SIP has been no exception. The economic growth momentum in the SIP began slowing down last September, with some export-oriented enterprises being hit hard by the economic slump. “As a whole, the worst impact from the financial recession of late last year has started to wear out, as central and local governments have taken a number of stimulus measures for economic recovery,” said Ma Minglong, secretary of SIP Communist Party Committee. At present, there are over 3,000 overseas enterprises and about 10,000 homegrown companies in the SIP. They generated 68 billion yuan ($9.9 billion) of GDP in 2008 with an annual growth rate of 19 percent. In the face of the crisis, the SIP administrative committee has spared no effort in helping companies and enterprises in the park overcome their difficulties and maintain stable development. As a result, the companies have maintained confidence in their future development in the park. South Korean conglomerate Samsung, one of the first foreign companies to invest and develop in the SIP in 1994, has grown from a company of 800 people to 6 companies with more than 16,000 people today. “The economic crisis, of course, has had an effect on us, but there is no change in our long-term development strategy in China,” said Lee Byung-chul, Samsung vice-president and regional director for East China. He added that the company would continue to carry out its investment plan with emphasis on research and development of high technology, while measures have been taken to cut costs to get through the crisis. “We have withstood the economic slowdown fairly well because we have a solid economic foundation with hi-tech enterprises as the pillar industries,” said Ma. Companies like Suzhou GenePharma and Nano-Micro Technology, leaders in their respective fields of biotech and microtech, are taking the lead in contributing to the SIP’s future development by attracting more talent and putting further effort into research and development. China Daily Jiangsu Bureau |
