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International Mobile Internet Industry Summit launches in Chengdu

2013-04-17
The 2013 International Mobile Internet Industry Summit was held on April 11 and 12. Leaders of domestic and overseas mobile Internet enterprises including Baidu, HTC, Google, Qualcomm, SAP, Huawei, Microsoft, Lenovo and Tencent met in Chengdu to discuss the future of the mobile Internet. The Chengdu High-Tech Zone together with Deloitte released the 2013 International Mobile Internet Industry Annual Report during the summit. Specifically, 1 billion yuan ($161.6 million) will be provided as initial capital for the industry's development, and the capital scale will increase year by year. The Chengdu High-Tech Zone has 500 mobile Internet companies to date, double the amount in 2011. It has incubated many mobile Internet stars such as Camera 360 and Nibitu Tech.

Chengdu has world's largest quake monitor

The Institute of Care-Life, a non-government earthquake warning system in Chengdu, has become the world's largest earthquake monitoring system, the Beijing Times reported on Tuesday.

The system has monitoring stations in eight provinces, including Gansu, Shaanxi, Sichuan and Yunnan, and covers 400,000 square kilometers. It provides earthquake-warning services to more than 80 million people.

So far, the system has monitored more than 1,200 earthquakes and successfully gave early warnings for a 4.9-magnitude earthquake in Yunnan on Feb 19, the paper added.

According to the institute, casualties in earthquakes can be decreased by 14 percent if a three-second warning is issued, and by 39 percent with a 10-second warning.

The warning system has more than 160,671 online followers on Sina Weibo.
 

Herrenknecht to Expand Presence in Chengdu

November 12, 2012

The Germany-based Herrenknecht Group, a manufacturer of more than 30 years of mechanized tunneling equipment, is commencing on more investment to expand its facility in east Chengdu’s Longquanyi District, said its Chairman of the Board of Management, Mr. Martin Herrenknecht. The company has been involved in the city’s metro construction and continuously exploring overseas market. Realizing an export value of US $11 million in 2011, the Chengdu facility has seen its products sold to many European and Asian countries.

 

2.5 Ring Road Construction Coming to End

November 12, 2012

Department of city traffic and transportation said November 8 that the whole construction project on the 2.5 Ring Road, an important complementary circular traffic way between the 2nd Ring Road and 3rd Ring Road, would soon be completed as the road pavement on the section in eastern Chengdu had been started. The whole line of the 2.5 Ring Road is expected to open to traffic this week.

City’s GDP Hits RMB600b in 1st 3Qs

October 28th, 2012

Chengdu’s GDP in the first three quarters reached over RMB600 billion, up 13% over the same period of the previous year. The Chengdu Municipal Government Information Office announced October 25 that during the past nine months, the city maintained a steady and rapid economic growth, with the local urban and rural residents’ incomes going up stably, and increase of major economic indicators keeping its leading edge among the country’s deputy-provincial cities.

 

Schlumberger Settles in Chengdu

October 28th, 2012

Schlumberger Limited, the world’s No. 1 oilfield services provider and a Fortune Global 500 company concluded an agreement with Chengdu October 24, to build a base in the city’s Xindu District. The RMB 320 million project, to cover an area of nearly 10.67 hectares, will consist of an R&D center and laboratory, and is scheduled to be completed in two years.

 

Sichuan Tops WC in 500 Private Companies

October 28th, 2012

13 private companies in Sichuan, including New Hope Group, Tongwei and Hongda, were recently listed on China’s top 500 Private Companies rankings, topping the country’s western regions. By last year-end, Sichuan had registered 2.77 million private companies, representing 94.9% of the province’s total enterprises. Its added value from the private economy had reached RMB 1.2 trillion, 57.8% of Sichuan’s GDP.

Hi-tech Zone, China Telecom sign strategic co-op deal

October 21st, 2012

China Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone and China Telecom (Chengdu branch) Corp. Ltd. signed strategic partnership agreements Oct. 17 to boost the development of mobile Internet industry of the high-tech zone. According to the agreement, China Telecom will invest RMB 1 billion in the telecommunications infrastructures of the zone. In addition, China Telecom is scheduled to share available resources with some enterprises in the mobile Internet industry.

 

CMEF, ICMD held in Chengdu

October 21st, 2012

The 68th China International Medical Equipment Fair and the 15th International Component Manufacturing & Design Show were staged Oct. 18-21 at Chengdu Century City New International Convention & Exhibition Center. Themed “Innovation Technology, Intelligent Healthcare”, the event attracted more than 2,500 enterprises from over 20 countries or regions to share their latest research achievements and show case the innovative products in the field of medical technology.

 

Airlines to Operate More Round-trip Flights to Chengdu

October 21st, 2012

Starting October 28, the Air Macao will operate daily round-trip flights between Chengdu and Macao. Currently, it is highly cost-effective to book the tickets certain days earlier. And passengers can transfer from Macao to Taiwan Province’s Taipei and Kaohsiung, Bangkok, Singapore and Seoul by connecting flights at very cheap rates. In addition, at the end of this month, the Sichuan Airlines will open or resume round-trip service on 14 domestic flight routes between Chengdu and Chongqing, Kunming, Xi’an, Nanjing, Hangzhou and Xiamen.

Philips to Set up LED Lighting Solutions Plant

August 27th, 2012

The Philips (China) Investment Co., Ltd. put its LED Professional Lighting Solutions manufacturing facility into construction on August 20th in Chengdu. It announced on the same day that the company’s lighting application center, the largest in Asia and the most technologically sophisticated in the world, will be located in the Chengdu Hi-tech Development Zone. In 2011, Philips set Chengdu as its second headquarters in China and concluded a memorandum of strategic partnership with the Chengdu city government.

 

Poly Center Comes into Use

August 27th, 2012

The Poly Center, a landmark development towering on the Renmin Avenue South in downtown Chengdu became operational on August 21st, with the settlement of the Poly (Chengdu) Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. in the business complex. At the very center of the science and business district along the Renmin Avenue South, the Poly Center will usher in some Fortune Global 500 companies, including the China CITIC Bank and GreenLand Group.

 

All-cargo Air Service Available from Chengdu to Amsterdam

August 27th, 2012

The air China Cargo Co., Ltd. launched scheduled cargo-only air service between Chengdu and Amsterdam on August 20th. The service is currently operated by B747-400 freighters twice weekly on Friday and Sunday respectively. Starting on September 8th, there will be one more flight every week on Thursday. The inrush of investment from big electronic companies in recent years, whose high value-added products are transported I large part by air, has given rise to strong demand of the air cargo market. Made-in-Chengdu products are able to be transferred very quickly to North America and European countries via the air line.

 

DuPont SW China Branch Gets Operational

August 20th, 2012

DuPont’s southwest China branch was put into operation on August 16th in Chengdu. Attaching high value to Chengdu’s strategic position in southwest China and its rosy prospect in the amidst of the “Go-West” campaign, DuPont will move more of its operations involving R&D and production to the city, said Mr. Mark P. Vergnano, DuPont Group’s Executive Vice President.

 

ANZ to Expand its CD Operation Center

August 20th, 2012

The ANZ, the third largest bank by market value in Australia, put its Chengdu operation center into formal service on August 16th. The center located in the Tianfu Software Park, will be expanded further in support of ANZ’s business in Asia, the bank announced its future moves in Chengdu last week.

 

Ortsbo to set up office in Chengdu

August 20th, 2012

Ortsbo, the world’s leading technology company in the real-time, experiential communication and language translation sector, reached an agreement with Sichuan National Promotion Base for the Game and Animation Industries on Aug. 14th to establish a new Ortsbo representative office at Chengdu Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone. Ortsbo provides a communication platform for any device, anywhere, anytime, and in over 50 languages, thus truly bridging one of the most complex issues with regards to international e-commerce and social connections via mobile or the Internet in real-time.

 

Airport T2 in Forum Service

August 13th, 2012

The Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport’s terminal 2 came into formal operation starting on August 9th. To serve passengers taking flights of the Sichuan Airlines and those from and to abroad, the new terminal , 350,000 square meters, is equipped with 120 manned check-in counters, 36 self-service check-in kiosks, 35 security accesses, over 170 elevators, escalators or walkways, automatic baggage sorting system, as well as 18 sets of building automatic control and security check systems for outgoing flights.

Chengdu Special: Zone of influence

28th, July, 2012

 

Chengdu in Southwest China's Sichuan province aims to take the lead in the next-generation IT industry and is focusing on the emerging mobile Internet sector.

 

Officials at Chengdu High-tech Zone said the IT industry is becoming smarter and more mobile, powered by the vigorous development of computing power, integrated circuit technology and broadband wireless communications technology.

 

As the mobile Internet will have a profound impact on our lives in the next two decades, China has put it at the core of its new-generation information industry, which is one of the strategic emerging industries identified in the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015).

 

As part of the national strategy, the Chengdu High-tech Zone released its own plan for the industry last month.

 

The plan, which aims to develop the zone into one of the country's premier sites for the mobile Internet industry, highlights that the zone is expected to be home to more than 1,000 companies and firms involved in the sector by 2017.

 

After years of development, the Chengdu High-tech Zone has achieved significant progress in the mobile Internet industry, the zone's officials said.

 

It has a competitive strength in both equipment manufacturing and technological R&D.

 

But to realize this objective, the zone's authorities said they will work alongside renowned experts at home and abroad to conduct further research on the industry and future technology.

 

The zone's administration committee aims to secure the financial and policy support of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Sichuan provincial government and Chengdu city government in its bid to become a locus with international influence.

 

According to the officials, aside from setting aside a special fund for the development of the mobile Internet industry, the zone will facilitate technology transfer and information exchanges.

 

At the beginning, the fund will be 1 billion yuan ($159 million) but it will increase every year. It will mainly be used for the introduction of key projects, the nurturing of advantageous and promising enterprises, the improvement of public services for enterprises and the introduction of talented people.

 

The officials said they will cooperate with well-known consulting firms and intermediary agencies to introduce talent and they will provide help so their children attend desirable schools and their spouses find jobs.

 

The zone will also encourage private funds to invest in the sector, the officials said.

 

Sound basis

 

Chengdu is deemed one of the Chinese cities most suitable for the development of the mobile Internet industry.

 

It has been designated by the central government as Southwest China's telecommunications hub. It is the country's fourth-largest hub, next to Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, for communications technology research and development.

 

The zone is home to more than 90 percent of the mobile Internet companies in Chengdu.

 

More than 150 firms in the zone are fully engaged in the mobile Internet business. Almost all the firms in the zone are located in Chengdu Hi-tech Innovation Park, Tianfu Software Park and Tianfu Valley.

 

The zone has a number of mobile Internet services and content providers, including some domestically renowned companies with competitive strength in mobile games and applications software development, zone officials said.

 

In addition, the zone has easy access to technological and personnel support from local universities and research institutions.

 

For instance the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and other higher learning institutions based in Chengdu have a steady stream of human resources to back the development of the mobile Internet industry.

 

The Chengdu High-tech Zone is one of the earliest State-level high-tech zones approved by the central government.

 

According to a rating of 88 high-tech zones by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Chengdu zone ranks fourth in terms of comprehensive strength, second in terms of sustainable development and third in terms of industrialization and economic scale.

 

Seven Sichuan Companies Listed as Fortune China 500

July 23rd，2012

Fortune China 500, an annual ranking of China’s 500 largest companies, was publicized on July 13th. On the list there are seven companies from Sichuan, including the New Hope Liuhe Co., Led., which climbed to the 65th place from last year’s 342nd and hence was hailed as the “Most Progressive Company in China in 2012”. Coming in 472nd place, the Sichuan Road & Bridge (Group) Co., Ltd. appeared for the first time on the listing. With a yearly net profit of RMB6.16 billion, the Wuliangye Yibin Co., Ltd. was the most profitable company in Sichuan on the ranking table. The Luzhou Laojiao became the Sichuan enterprise with the maximum net profit margin, which was reported to be 34%.

 

DuPont sets up 1st SW China Branch in City

July 23rd，2012

DuPont, a Fortune Global 500 company headquartered in the US, is to make business presence in Chengdu. The company’s first Southwest China branch will be engaged primarily in investment and capital management, which involve in service of domestic and overseas procurement, foreign currency balance, personnel recruitment, market development, and financial aid offered to DuPont-invested enterprises. And it will also deal with import and export and trial marketing of agrochemical products, electronics and communication products, defense and security products, as well as veterinary drugs. In addition, the company is going to build storage and distribution bases in Chengdu.

 

1st Sino-ROK Life Insurer in Chengdu

July 23rd，2012

The Samsung Air China Life Insurance Co., Ltd. Sichuan Branch was brought into service on July 20th. Approved by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission on June 26th, the branch was the insurer’s fourth affiliate in the Chinese mainland. The other three are those in Tianjin, Qingdao and Beijing. To tap strategically Southwest China’s market, the branch will offer local people services involving personal insurance agency, bank insurance, alliance marketing and telemarketing.

 

Hi-tech Bonded Zone Shuangliu Park Passes National Acceptance

July 9th，2012

The Chengdu Hi-tech Comprehensive Bonded Area’s Shuangliu Park was accepted by a State Council inspection team on July 3rd. National authorities involving customs, reform and development, finance, land and resources, housing and urban-rural development, commerce, taxation, industrial and commercial administration, quality supervision, inspection and quarantine, as well as foreign exchange, unanimously approved the 4-square kilometer park, after a site inspection and appraisal.

 

Hi-tech Zone Targets RMB200b Mobile Internet Industry Cluster

July 2nd，2012

The Chengdu Hi-tech Development Zone announced a five-year plan to spur the rapidly emerging mobile Internet industry as a news briefing on June 26th. The Plan sets a target of RMB200 billion in 2017 for the gross revenues from the mobile Internet industry, of which RMB50 billion comes from applications and services. By then, the hi-tech zone will be developed as one of China’s industrial forerunners with an industry cluster which features powerful capacity of innovation, perfect environment for industrial growth, and strong domestic and global brand reputation. And more than 1,000 enterprises gathering over 100,000 professional will be fostered and facilities covering over 1 million square meters constructed for the industry inside the zone.

 

Made-in-Chengdu Dell PCs to be off the Shelf in US

July 2nd，2012

The Dell saw a batch of notebook computers rolling out of the production lines of its OEM partners Taiwan-based Compal and Wistron’s Chengdu facilities on June 28th. Made by Dell’s Original Equipment Manufacturing partners Compal and Wistron in Chengdu, these PCs, upon customs clearance in the city, were transported by air to the United States, and put on sale after two days. The Dell Chengdu Global Operation Facility is now under construction and will be put into service in the second fiscal quarter of 2014 as scheduled.

 

Dolphin Browser to settle global HQ in Chengdu

July 2nd，2012

Mobo Tap Inc. signed an agreement on June 25th with Chengdu Hi-tech Zone to set up the global headquarters of Dolphin Browser at the zone. Mobo Tap’s decision to settle the headquarters in Chengdu is based on the study of Chengdu Hi-tech Zone’s favorable investment environment and long-term of planning of mobile Internet development. A mobile technology developer committed to advancing the mobile revolution by improving the way people experience the web through their mobile devices, Mobo Tap has launched Dolphin Browser, a free web-browser specifically created and optimized for Android users.

ACCA Locates 1st Western China FSSC in City

June, 25th, 2012

As of June 14th, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), a global body for professional accountants, announced to establish its first western China Financial Shared Service Center in Chengdu. To help Chengdu attract more foreign investors and the local enterprises to expand presence in the global market, the UK-based company will locate the center inside the Tianfu Software Park. ACCA is aimed to offer business-related and first-choice qualification to people of application, ability and ambition around the world who seek a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management. It set up its Chengdu representative office in 2009, which is in charge of the company’s all operations in China’s western regions.

 

Sichuan to Step up Investment in Fixed Assets

June, 25th, 2012

The Sichuan Provincial government announced on June 19th at its official website that the province is going to accomplish a total investment in fixed assets hitting RMB 1.7 trillion. It will expand its investment in industries to RMB 640 billion and projects of industrial renovation to RMB 400 billion, and step up execution of projects involving livelihood, in which RMB 108 billion will be injected. In 2012, more than 280,000 apartments for local low-income residents will be brought under construction.

 

Bosch to Make Electric Tools in Chengdu

June, 25th, 2012

The Robert Bosch GmbH, a technology and services supplier, will locate its southwest China power tools plant in Chengdu’s Pujiang County. The company inked an agreement on the US$35 million project with the Chengdu city government on June 13th. Bosch established a packaging technology production site and an automotive products facility in Chengdu last year. The power tools plant in Pujiang is scheduled to be put into operation in 2015. It is expected to generate an annual sales volume of RMB 1 billion in 2015 and RMB 2 billion in 2020.

Angel Investment Fund to Fuel Start-ups

June, 18th, 2012

The Chengdu Hi-tech Development Zone is to inaugurate an angel investment fund with full subsidies from the government for entrepreneurs. This is China’s first fund of its kind with full government capital, and will be operated and managed in market-oriented modes by Chengdu Hi-tech Investment Group. To be injected initially with RMB 80 million, the fund is to foster innovation-centered and venture enterprises by way of equity investment.

 

Sichuan’s Foreign Trade Volume Hits Record High

June, 18th, 2012

Sichuan Province saw its gross foreign trade volume between January and May surging to a record to US$ 22.36 billion, up 46% over the same period of last year. The Chengdu Customs announced on June 11th that the province’s foreign trade figure in the past five months outperformed all other cities in central and western China. Its total export rose 78.7% to US$ 14.78 billion, and imports 7.6% to US$ 7.58 billion.

 

TMF settles shared service center in Chengdu

June, 18th, 2012

TMF GROUP, a leading global provider of accounting, corporate secretarial and HR &payroll administrative services from the Netherland. TMF has eight offices in the Chinese cities and the Shared Service Center in Chengdu, as TMF’s first establishment in western China, employs over 100 legal consultants from across China to provide professional support for the other seven offices and clients in China. Mr. Bert Damstra, TMF’s Regional Director for China, regards the Chengdu SSC as the backbone of TMF’s operations in China.

 

Provincial Guidelines to Boost Hi-tech Service Industry

June, 11th, 2012

The Sichuan Provincial Government recently rolled out guidelines to promote the province’s development in the hi-tech service industry. Sichuan targets an over 20% increase in the annual revenues of the industry during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015), according to the guidelines posted on the provincial government’s website. By 2015, the province will make the hi-tech service industry a vital engine of the local economic growth. It will foster a series of key enterprises with powerful capacity of innovation, top services and international influence, and formulate effective systems involving the industry and its standards, statistics and policies.

 

Shuangliu Airport T2 to Open

June, 11th, 2012

T2, the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport’s new terminal, will conclude its construction and become operation in July as scheduled, sources from the airport disclosed on June 4th. With a planned area of 290,000 square meters, the four-storey new terminal will primarily serve domestic flights.

 

Int’l Forum on Innovation, Tianfu New Area

June, 11th, 2012

Around 100 experts and government officials from home and abroad attended an international forum on innovation, entrepreneurship and development of Tianfu New Area, held in Chengdu on June 3rd. Highlighting sustainable economic and social prosperity, the participants exchanged in depth perspectives on pathways of green development. At the forum, official representatives from Michigan, the US, expressed strong desire to advance long-term cooperation between the State of Michigan and Sichuan in the auto industry. 
 

GE Launches China Innovation Center in Chengdu

June, 4th, 2012

GE inaugurated its China Innovation Center at the west zone of Chengdu Hi-tech Development Zone in Chengdu on May 30th. It’s GE’s first global customer-centered coordination and innovation center involving in the areas of medical treatment, energy, transportation and industrial intelligence platforms. Covering an area of 33,000 square meters and encompassing over 30 labs, the US$80 million center is expected to gather about 500 researchers, who will focus on offering tailor-made medical equipment and facilities and technical solutions to China’s grass-roots medical institutions, helping explore the country’s abundant shale gas and improve operation efficiency of local customers in top-end manufacturing, as well as providing the traffic, telecommunication and power sectors with the state-the-art storage technologies and applications of batteries.

 

Global IT Services Leader Settled in City

June, 4th, 2012

The US-based Achievo Corporation officially settled its global RD center at Chengdu Hi-tech Zone. Achievo Corporation, a global Top 50 outsourcing provider, has 23 branch companies in the world, including 11 delivery centers staffed by 3,000 people in China. It is also the largest provider of offshore software development and IT outsourcing service from China to Japan. To support the global business expansion of Achievo, its RD center in Chengdu will be developed into an institution with a staff of 1,000 in three to five years.

 

Chengdu wins top prizes at Int’l Soft China

June, 4th, 2012

Local outsourcing company Softmit Corporation grabbed two prizes, China’s Excellent Software Provider and China’s Emerging Company in the Software Industry at the opening ceremony of 2012 the 16th China International Software Exposition, which was held on May 31st in Beijing. The exposition is sponsored by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Science and Technology.

 

Chengdu, ICBC Establish Strategic Partnership

May 28, 2012

The city of Chengdu came to a strategic partnership agreement with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICBC) on May 21st. Both parties will work together on developing the city into western China’s economic engine through close financial cooperation.

 

Chengdu-Male Direct Passenger Flights Likely to Open

May 28, 2012

Scheduled passenger flights direct from Chengdu to Male, capital of the Republic of Maldives, is likely to be open starting on May 31st, insiders from the Shuangliu International Airport disclosed late last week. With seven flights every week, the direct flight services will be undertaken by Boeing 767 aircraft.

 

DTT Makes Business Presence at Chengdu

May 28, 2012

The Deloitte Touche Tohmtsu Limited (Deloitte or DTT), the world’s No. 1 professional services network specializing in audit, tax, consulting, enterprise risk and financial advisory services, is expected to inaugurate in Chengdu this year. First to offer services involving financial advisory, the Chengdu branch will be engaged in all business operation in China’s western region in the future. Deloitte will focuses not only on multinationals in Chengdu, but also on local enterprises.

 

City Inks Big-ticket Project Deals

May 28, 2012

On May 22nd, Chengdu’s wuhou District signed contracts for 23 projects with companies from home and abroad including 360buy, a Beijing-based B2C giant, the Walt Disney Company, the global leader in family entertainment, and Bleum Inc., China’s leading outsourcing provider. The 23 projects , five of which are from Fortune 500 companies, will be invested with RMB 13.37 billion in total.

 

Intel, Suning open Ultrabook store in Chengdu

May 21, 2012

Intel Corporation and Suning Applicance, a leading company in the industry of 3C (Consumer appliance, computer and communication products) home appliance retail chain in China, announced on Thursday that the first experience store of Ultrabook in western China was officially opened at Suning Appliance of Chengdu. Intel Corporation also declared a price cut of Ultrabook.

 

Sichuan Founds Int’l TTSA

May 21, 2012

Sichuan recently established an international technology transfer service alliance (TTSA), in an effort to facilitate international innovation, announced the Sichuan Provincial Science and Technology Department (SPSTD) on May 13th. The alliance will integrate the province’s resources of scientific innovation, which will be geared to international standards. As a forerunner of the province’s scientific innovation, Chengdu will play a leading role in the alliance in the fields of e-information and biomedicine. Focused on international technology transfer, and scientific and management innovation, the organization is committed to offering professional services involving science, finance, transfer of technological achievement, product-market interface and intellectual property rights. It will serve as a bridge between Sichuan and the outside world in global technology cooperation and exchange.

 

Singapore-Sichuan HTIP Kicks off Construction

May 14, 2012

The Singapore-Sichuan Hi-tech Innovation Park(HTIP) was officially brought under construction in the Chengdu Hi-tech Development Zone inside the Tianfu New Area on May 8th. Scheduled to be completed in 2020, the over RMB 100 billion hi-tech zone will be shaped to be a microcosm with modern manufacturing, top-end service sector, and perfect human and natural environment for inhabitation. To cover 10.34 square kilometers and house 120,000 dwellers, the park is expected to create 150,000 jobs and be invested with RMB 100 billion. The park is focused on eight industries and sectors including service outsourcing, information technology, biomedicine, environmental protection, digital media, finance, precision instrument manufacturing and professional training.

 

Lenovo Hosts Global Supplier Conference in Chengdu

May 14, 2012

China’s leading computer maker Lenovo held its annual global supplier conference here in Chengdu on May 8th-10th. Being the largest and highest level ever, the event attracted over 500 world famous brands including Intel, Microsoft, LG, AMD and Compell. Mayor of Chengdu Ge Honglin addressed the meeting and Chairman and CEO of Lenovo Yang Yuanqing made a speech to the participants.

 

Danish Investors Eye on Western China

May 14, 2012

A delegation from Denmark led by Danish ambassador to China, Mr. H. E. Arne Petersen, visited Chengdu on May 6th. Both parties will launch a forum focusing on the pension industry on May 14-15th, and co-initiate a 500-bed senior care center in western China. About 20 Danish companies will attend the forum to seek potential opportunities of collaborating with their Chengdu counterparts. Denmark is to promote partnership with Chengdu in geriatric nursing and rehabilitation services, business and trade, education, as well as planning, exploitation, utilization and conservation of water resources.

 

World’s No. 1 Paints Maker Settle in City

May 14, 2012

Akzonobel, the global paints and coating company and a major producer of specialty chemicals recently made presence here in the city. Pinning big hope on western China market, the company initiated its training center on automotive coatings operation in Chengdu, following the other three in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing. The Netherlands-headquartered company was also reported to establish its western China manufacturing center possibly in Chengdu.

Chengdu, London Establish Trade Partnership

May 7, 2012

The Chengdu Council for Promotion of International Trade came to an agreement with the Canada-based London Chamber of Commerce last week. Agreeing upon joint efforts to drive economic and trade ties between Chengdu and London, both parties are committed to leverage bilateral relationships in information exchange and promotion of mutual economic partnerships.  A 40-member delegation led by Mr. Joe Fontana, mayor of London, Ontario, visited Chengdu and held further talks with its Chinese counterparts form the sectors of pharmaceuticals, accounting and practice of law. It signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation with Sichuan University.

 

City to Host 9th WBC

May 7, 2012

The 9th World Biomaterials Congress (WBC) will be convened on June 1st-5th in the city. It is the first time that the quadrennial event, which was initiated in 1980, will be held in a developing country. Themed “Innovative Biomaterials and Crossing Frontiers in Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine,” the congress will attract top biomaterials scientist and industry professionals from across the world.

 

Chengdu-Mumbai Service Commences

May 7, 2012

The Chengdu-Mumbai direct flight service was made available by Air China starting on May 2nd. Taking around 5 hours of one-way travel time, this is the only direct flight route from the Chinese mainland to the Indian city. The four weekly flights to be undertaken by A319 airliners take off from Chengdu at 21:30 on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, and fly back from Mumbai at 1:40 on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Monday.

 

City’s Q1 Foreign Trade Volume Hits US$8.356b

April 30, 2012

Chengdu’s major foreign trade indices surged in the first quarter amid the currently sluggish global economy, announced a Sichuan provincial work conference on foreign trade held on April 23rd. In the first three months, Sichuan’s total foreign trade volume jumped a remarkable 19.1% year-on-year to US$10.58 bilion, of which US$6.25billion was contributed by gross export, up 31.9% over the same period of last year. The province actually utilized a total of US$2.74billion foreign investment, increased by 25.7% compared with the previous year.Chengdu outnumbered all other cities in the province. In the first quarter, its total volume of imports and exports soared by 20.76% to US$8.356billion, 23% higher than the national average of growth. Its value of exports represented 77.7% of the total foreign trade volume. It introduced US$6.01billion for 35 major projects and approved 56 new foreign-funded projects with a contract value of US$1.023billion, climbing 31% over the level of the year-ago quarter. And the city reported a 26% jump in actually utilized foreign capital to US$2.17billion for the first three months of the year from a year earlier. The city’s aim in total foreign trade volume in 2012 is US$45 billion, a growth rate of 19% over a year earlier. However, it will strive for US$50billion, a 32% increase year on year. Great importance will be attached to construction of bonded areas and Shuangliu County, and an international trade center for imported commodities.

 

Baidu to Train Personnel or City

April 30, 2012

Baidu, the dominant Chinese Internet search engine, is going to train personnel of search engine marketing (SEM) for small- and medium-sized enterprises in Sichuan, revealed vice president of the web giant Zhu Guang in Chengdu on April 23rd. To partner with the Sichuan Provincial Economic and Information Commission, Baidu is to offer SEM courses to over 100,000 people in Sichuan, which is aimed to improve precision marketing and reduce cost of sales. There were roughly 300,000 SEM customers in Sichuan in 2011, 10% of the national total.

 

Maiden Flight between Chengdu, Vancouver

April 30, 2012

The Sichuan Airlines announced on April 24th that it will launch a Chengdu-Shenyang- Vancouver route with three flights a week, starting June 22nd. To take nearly 14 hours flying time, the route is the first one to North America from western China. A330 aircraft will fly the three weekly flights on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. About 40,000 passengers will travel to North America by the flight annually.

Global Investors Gather in City

April 23, 2012

The 2012 Chengdu Global Investment Summit themed opportunities for investment in West China was held in the city on April 19^th. Sponsored by the city government and Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC, the event attracted nearly 400 decision makers of Fortune 500, senior executives of world famous banks and insurance companies, industry leaders specializing in Asia asset management and hedge fund operations, representatives from businesses of financial service outsourcing, R&D institutions, hi-tech enterprises, capital market service providers, as well as international financial media.

 

Chengdu-Melbourne Direct Flight Likely to Open

April 23, 2012

A memorandum of understanding of “Sister Airports” partnership was reached between the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport Co., Ltd. and Melbourne Airport, a subsidiary of Australia Pacific Airports Corporation on April 15th. To work together in lots of areas including launch of direct flight from Chengdu to Melbourne, it’s reported that both parties have come to an agreement on offering direct flight service between the two cities.

 

Qingbaijiang eyed as a promising logistics base in China

April 23, 2012

The Qingbaijiang District is selected as one of the ten areas in China with the greatest potentials the development of commercial markets, as indicated in a list announced last week at the 13^th China Development of Commodity Exchange Market Forum and the 1^st China Development of Logistics Industry Summit Forum in Beijing, said officials from the government of Qingbaijiang District. The China(Chengdu) International Commercial Logistics Summit Forum 2012 opened on Friday in Qingbaijiang District. Top-level economists, officials and enterprises from China and overseas attended the event.

  

 

Chengdu to Host 2013 Fortune Global Forum

April 16, 2012

The 2013 Fortune Global Forum will take place in Chengdu on June 6th-8th,2013, announced the Fortune Magazine Managing Editor Andy Serwer at a press conference held in Beijing on April 9th. This will be the fourth time China gets to host the prestigious global business summit, and the first time the grand event to be convened in an inland city in the country. With the theme “China’s New Future,” the 2013 Fortune Global Forum will focus on the evolution of China’s domestic economy, the development of western China, and China’s emerging role in the global contest. Its central contents will highlight “the China Century, Resource Solutions, Innovation and Technology, and Global Finance and Economic Recovery.” Since 1995,the Fortune Magazine, the world leader in business journalism with a global readership of nearly 500million and major franchises including the Fortune 500 and the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For, has hosted the Forum for 11 times, including 3 in China’s Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Beijing in 1999, 2001 and 2005 respectively. The Forum convenes world leaders and chairmen, presidents and CEOs of the world’s largest companies of the dynamic frontiers of international commerce

 

Chengdu Global Investment Summit to Open

April 16, 2012

Chengdu Global Investment Summit, a program sponsored by the British Chamber of Commerce Southwest China in cooperation with Euromoney and the Chengdu Municipal Government, is to be held in Chengdu April 19th-20th. The summit will gather several hundred world-class business, banking and investment decision makers who are seeking further investment and business opportunities in Western China. The Summit will provide investors and entrepreneurs unparalleled insight in to Chengdu as a location for growth and a practical place for a Western China foothold.

 

DuPont to Establish Chengdu Branch

April 16, 2012

DuPont, a US-based chemical company and one of the Fortune Global 500, is going to found its first branch in western China in Chengdu in the middle of the year, revealed an insider with anonymity from the PR department of DuPont China on April 11th. The company will expand its operations regarding new energy, agriculture, chemicals and materials in Chengdu upon inauguration of the branch.

Symantec Likely to Locate Cloud Computing Center in Chengdu

April 9, 2012

Symantec, China’s largest maker of security software for computers, is planning its China cloud computing center in Chengdu, disclosed general manager of the company’s western China operations, Zhang Qianwen, one week ago. “chengdu’s plentiful human resources and its endeavor for developing the cloud computing appeal highly to us,” Mr. Zhang was cited as saying. He added that the company is currently in talks with relevant local government departments and operators, but not giving any details. Symantec launched its second R&D center and security response centers in Chengdu in 2008.

 

Jan-Feb Fixed-asset Investment Grows 30%

April 9, 2012

Chengdu’s fixed-asset investment grew 30% to RMB 51.24 billion in the January-to-February period from a year earlier, its industrial enterprises accomplished a year-on-year added value of 17.9%, local information, mechanical manufacturing and auto sectors maintained a robust growth over the same period of last year, and the capital invested in the Tianfu New Area rose by 71.6% to RMB 12.66 billion compare with the same period of 2011. In addition, during the period, the city’s total retail sales of consumer goods reached RMB51.42 billion, an increase of 16.4% from a year earlier. The Chengdu Municipal Development and Reform Commission released on April 4th that the city kept a stable and rapid growth in all aspects, driven by progress of major projects including the construction of Tianfu New Area, renovation of urban northern areas, and alleviation of urban traffic jams. In the first two months, among the amount for fixed assets investment, the first, second and tertiary sectors accomplished RMB 380 million, 16.34 million and RMB34.52 million, a year-on-year rise of 30.8%,26% and 33.2%, respectively.

 

Turnover of Food, Wine & Spirits Fair reaches 21 billion

April 2, 2012

The 86th National Food, Wine & Spirits Fair, which closed in Chengdu on Tuesday, realized a trade volume over RMB21 billion, said the organizers of the event. Over 3,000parties attended the event, with the number of registered visitors reaching nearly 312 thousand. To promote the image of the event overseas, the organizers released a video footage of Chengdu and the reporting of the event on the electronic display at the Times Square in the New York City on March 25(local time).

 

Hitachi builds new elevator production base in Chengdu

April 2, 2012

Hitachi Elevator (China) Co. Led, a subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd., on Tuesday held the foundation-laying ceremony for its West China production base in Chengdu. The new company, Hitachi Elevator (Chengdu) Co., Ltd. will meet the growing demand in the western region of the country. Hitachi Elevator (Chengdu), occupying an area of 146 thousand square meters, is scheduled for completion in March 2013. It will have a production capacity of 7,000 units a year upon completion.

Molex to Expand Its Chengdu Plant

March 26, 2012

Molex, a global electronic connectors supplier headquartered in the US, inked an agreement with the Chengdu Hi-tech Development Zone on March 20th, to make an additional investment of US$300 million to expand its Chengdu plant. This is the third time Molex added investment in Chengdu. To establish a global mould center and a warehouse in the zone, the Chengdu plant will increase its annual sales revenue by US$110 million from that of 2011 after the expansion completed. Set up in 2005, Molex Chengdu, with 6,300 employees, is the largest manufacturing plant of the company’s Commercial Products Division. It specializes in R & D, production, marketing, after-sales services and technical support of electronic connectors, fibre optic cables, radiators and related products.

 

Sichuan’s Jan-Feb CPI Rises 3.2%

March 26, 2012

Sichuan’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), a major gauge of inflation, jumped 3.2 per cent year-on-year in January and February, announced the provincial statistics bureau on March 16th. Main indices of Sichuan’ s national economy in the past two months show that the province maintained steady growth in industrial production and consumer goods market, which was above the national average. The much-watched Producer Price Index (PPI), a key measure of inflation at wholesale level, saw a year-on-year slight rise of 2.1 per cent.

 

Israeli Companies Partner with Chengdu

March 26, 2012

Representatives from nearly 10 Israeli companies were present at the Chengdu-Israel Business Forum held in Chengdu on March 16th. Israeli foreign minister, Mr. Avigdor Liberman, addressed the gathering, attaching great value to mutual business partnership. At the forum, Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Science and Technology came to a framework agreement involving commercialization of intellectual property, with Infinity Group, which is backed by global investors and IDB Group, the largest conglomerate in Israel. In addition, on March 16th, the city staged a photo show marking the 20th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Israel, which falls on this year.

 

Foreign Airlines Eye Chengdu Market

March 26, 2012

The LOT Polish Airlines will commence Chengdu-Beijing-Warsaw direct flight service starting on May 30th, said an insider at a conference promoting tourism in Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, held on March 20th. The flights will take off at 8:45am from Beijing and arrive in Warsaw at 12:40pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Special offer of round-trip tickets for the journey between Chengdu and Warsaw is priced at RMB4,300 excluding tax.

Chengdu’s economic growth show strong momentum

March 12, 2012

A recent report by the statistics bureau of Chengdu municipal government indicates that the GDP of the city marked a 15.2% growth last year, bringing it to RMB685.46 billion and the fourth largest GDP amount among the 15 sub-provincial cities in China. Statistics also show Chengdu was the fastest developing city in GDP growth among the 15 cities last year.

 

Large PVC profile and pipe factory under construction

March 12, 2012

The construction of the largest factory of PVC profiles and pipes in southwestern China, an investment project by Shanxi Zhongde Group, started on Wednesday in Xinjin County in southern Chengdu. The construction involves an investment of RMB500 million and the factory will have an annual capacity of 140 thousand tons upon completion. Shanxi Zhongde Group is a leading manufacturer of PVC construction materials in China.

 

Chengdu, CEC reach deals to boost electronic industrial growth

March 12, 2012

Chengdu municipal government and China Electronics Corporation (CEC) signed a strategic cooperation agreement on Thursday in Beijing with the aim of promoting the electronic industry in Chengdu and consolidating the city’s status as one of the key electronic industrial bases in China. CEC is one of the key state-owned conglomerates directly under the administration of the central government, and the largest State-owned IT company in China. Heads of CEC and Chengdu municipal government attended the signing ceremony. According to the agreement, CEC will launch an industrial park in Chengdu and start a number of large-scale investment projects in the city, including its production base of end-user products in southwestern China and electronic engineering design institute, which will be made an industrial conglomeration with sales of RMB100 billion in 2016.

 

China Unicom to set up IDC center in Chengdu

March 5, 2012

China’s leading telecommunications operator China Unicom signed an agreement with Chengdu municipal government on Thursday to start its Internet data center (IDC) in Chengdu. China Unicom becomes the third company of the three leading telecommunications giants in China to establish IDC in Chengdu, following China Telecom and China Mobile.

Air China to launch Chengdu-Mumbai direct flight

March 5, 2012

As part of its effort to build a hub at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in southwestern China, Air China will launch the Shanghai-Chengdu- Mumbai route on May 2. The operation of the new service will make Chengdu the best transfer airport in China for domestic travelers flying to India and remarkably boost the status of Chengdu as an international air transportation hub in the country, said Air China’s southwestern division. Mumbai is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Known as India’s “west gateway”, it is the country’s largest port and most important transportation hub. The new service will make Mumbai the tenth city accessible by Air China from Chengdu, with four weekly flights numbered CA429/430 and serviced by an Airbus A319.

 

Danone Group to launch Chengdu factory

March 5, 2012

The multinational food-products corporation Danone Group (Groupe Danone) signed an agreement on Wednesday to set up a factory in Qionglai City in southwestern Chengdu. A Fortune Global 500 company, Danone Group claims world leadership in fresh dairy products and bottled water. President of Danone Asia- Pacific Dairy Pierre Gu said at the signing ceremony that the Chengdu factory will be “a bridgehead” in tapping the huge market potential in western China.

 

Dow opens new office in Chengdu

March 5, 2012

Dow Chemical Company opened a new office in Chengdu, Sichuan province on Thursday, hoping to accelerate its growth in western China. Dow plans to increase its annual sales in China from $4.5 billion to $7 billion to $8 billion by 2015, according to a statement. Dow said that it expects its business in the interior of China to occupy an increasing proportion of its sales. Currently, Dow’s business in the coastal provinces accounts for approximately 75 percent of total sales on the Chinese mainland. “In support of the government’s ‘Go West’ strategy, we will significantly expand our market reach in the western China region,” said Peter Sykes, president of Dow Greater China.

 

Sichuan, JM Eagle sign strategic cooperation deals

March 5, 2012

The provincial government of Sichuan and JM Eagle Inc. (JM Eagle), the world’s largest manufacturer

of plastic pipes, reached an agreement on establishing strategic cooperation relationship on Monday in Chengdu. Top officials from the governments of Sichuan and Chengdu and Walter Wang, president and CEO of JM Eagle, attended the signing ceremony. Products of JM Eagle have wide applications in drainage systems, waste discharge system and civil engineering projects. JM Eagle will invest a total of US$440 million and RMB1 billion to set up a factory in Xinjin County in southern Chengdu, which will be the company’s RD center and production base for high-end large bore pipes and new material construction materials. The government of Xinjin County and Chengdu Water Works Company also signed agreements with JM Eagle on the same day.

 

China Mobile to settle West China data center in Chengdu

February 26, 2012

China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile phone operator, signed a contract with the government of Chengdu on Wednesday to start the headquarters of China Mobile’s West China data center in Chengdu. The center, located in Shuangliu County in southern Chengdu, is China Mobile’s third Internet data center (IDC) in China. IDC is the most important infrastructure of the IT industry for information processing, cloud computing and other functions. The data center will cost a total investment of RMB6 billion and greatly enhance the capacity of the present IDC facility in Chengdu. Chengdu reached an agreement with China Telecom, another telecommunications giant of China, on setting up the company’s data center in the city two weeks ago.

 

China Cloud Computing Industry Summit held in Chengdu

February 26, 2012

The China Cloud Computing Industry Summit 2012 was held on Wednesday at Chengdu New Century International Exhibition and Conference Center in southern Chengdu. As part of Chinasoft 2012, held Feb. 21-23 in Chengdu, the meeting convened officials and professionals from governments, institutions and companies, including Chengdu Hi-tech Industrial Development Park, China Center for Information Industry Development, China Telecommunications, Microsoft, Yinhai Software, IBM, Huawei, SAP, NEC, China Standard Software and CCID Consulting, to discuss the trends in the cloud computing industry and the future development of the industry.

 

Chengdu quickens pace of subway stations construction

February 26, 2012

The undertakers of the construction of the subway transportation system in Chengdu held a ceremony on Thursday to declare the collective launches of 18 construction projects of the subway stations in the city. Chengdu government indicates in a new plan that the city will have 23 subway lines in the future, with the total length of subway lines increased from the present 274.15 kilometers to 938 kilometers. By the end of 2015, the Chengdu Metro Line 1, Line 2, Line 3 and Line 7, including the extensions, will be put into operation and the daily passenger number of the subway system of the city will reach 2 million and greatly relieve the traffic pressure in the city.

 

Hong Leong Group launches city-functional Community project in Wenjiang

February 26, 2012

A large-scale city-functional community, invested by Hong Leong Group, a Fortune Global 500 company and one of Singapore’s largest private sector conglomerates, is under construction in Wenjiang District in western Chengdu. The project of a total investment of US$1.8 billion is Hong Leong Group’s first investment in inland China and will serve as the headquarters of the Group on the Chinese mainland. Upon completion, the community will encompass hotels, deluxe conference centers, shopping facilities, highstandard office buildings and residential buildings.

 

COFCO’s Chengdu industrial park to start operation

February 26, 2012

The Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO), China’s largest food processing, manufacturer and trader, announced on Monday that the production base invested by the corporation in Xinjin County in southern Chengdu, COFCO Chengdu Industrial Park, was to start trial production next month. The first-phase of the industrial park involves an investment of RMB2.2 billion and its full operation is expected to begin in May.

City vows to be a national hi-tech industrial base

February 19, 2012

Chengdu municipal government said at a press conference on Tuesday that it had formulated a plan for the development of the hi-tech industry of the city for the 12th Five-Year Plan Period (2011-2015), which indicates that the city will push forward to make itself a national-class and internationally important hi-tech industrial production base. The plan says that the GDP of the city’s hi-tech industry will reach RMB1, 000 billion by the year of 2015, four times that of 2010. IT industry, aero-space industry, biopharmaceutical, new energy, new materials, industrial energy saving and environmental protection will be the key sectors for the development of the hi-tech industry, according to the plan.

 

Chengdu to be named as Famous Software City of China

February 19, 2012

The municipal government of Chengdu announced on Thursday that Chengdu will be officially named as the third Famous Software City of China, after Nanjing and Jinan, at the 10th Chinasoft, which is to open on Feb.21 in Chengdu. The honor will be conferred by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology at the opening ceremony of the event, said the municipal government at a press conference on Thursday.

 

Bosch launches West China industrial base in Chengdu

February 19, 2012

Germany-based multinational technology and services supplier Robert Bosch GmbH on Tuesday signed a package of agreements with Chengdu municipal government to settle its western China industrial base in Chengdu. The project, located at Tianfu New Area in southeastern Chengdu, is expected to cost RMB880 million and will result in the formation of Bosch Automotive Products (Chengdu) Co Ltd, the second production site that Bosch Chassis Systems Control has in China. Construction of the project was launched on Tuesday. “Our insights into China’s economy make us seize every opportunity to achieve sustainable growth,” said Uwe Raschke, member of the Bosch board of management with responsibility for the Asia-Pacific region. “In recent years, Chengdu has become one of the most influential cities in China’s western economy, as well as attracting more automakers to set up their manufacturing sites, including Volkswagen, Volvo and Toyota. It’s a strategic step for Bosch to have presence here.” Bosch has invested more than RMB1 billion in projects in Chengdu, including a packaging factory in Pujiang County in southern Chengdu, which has already started production.

 

Fortune Global 500 companies settle in Jinjiang District

February 19, 2012

A number of multi-national enterprises, including three Fortune Global 500 companies, signed agreements with the government of Jinjiang District of Chengdu on Tuesday to settle in the district, which boasts 95 Fortune Global 500 companies in its area. The three new-coming Fortune Global 500 companies in the district are DuPont, FESCO Adecco and Evonik Degussa.

 

Delegation of UK financial industry visits Chengdu

February 19, 2012

A delegation from the financial industry of the United Kingdom, headed by Sir David Brewer, chairman of China-Britain Business Council, visited Chengdu on Wednesday and Thursday and exchanged ideas with heads of Chengdu municipal government during their stay. Sir David Brewer said he was impressed by the development of the financial industry of Chengdu and the completed structure of the city’s financial institutions and functional market system. He expressed wishes for further cooperation with Chengdu in the sector of financial industry in the future.

Chengdu to embark on North City Revitalization Project

February 12, 2012

The municipal government of Chengdu said at a meeting on Feb.5 that a massive reconstruction project in the urban area of northern Chengdu, the North City Revitalization Project, was to be initiated soon.

The municipal government attaches great importance to the project, cited as the largest-scale project for the public livelihood, as “it concerns the improvement of the livelihood of local residents, the balanced city development and the crucial step of the city towards its aim to be an international metropolitan city,” top officials of the local government are quoted as saying. It is estimated that the overall reconstruction of the area, which covers the expansive land in the north of the city, will involve an investment of some RMB330 billion, with a large number of subprojects to be carried out. The government calls for combined efforts by the public and government departments and a through investigation of the area, such as the population, buildings and the scope of undertakings, in order to make a scientific plan for the reconstruction project to ensure the success of the reconstruction project and the benefits of all people concerned. The general planning of the reconstruction project is expected to be published by the end of next month. Infrastructure projects will soon start afterwards and the whole reconstruction is to be completed in five years, by which the northern part of the city will be an area of modern industry, ecological environment with internationally fashioned outlook, the government said.

T3 Entertainment starts Chengdu operation center

February 12, 2012

South Korea’s leading online games developer T3 Entertainment Co. Ltd (T3 Entertainment) launched its China operation center in Chengdu on Wednesday. The company reached an agreement with Chengdu Media Group the same day and the operation center has settled at creative industry production base run by Chengdu Media Group. Chief Executive Officer of T3 Entertainment Kee-Young Kim hoped the operation center will be an incubator of popular online games and the project will help promote the online games industry of Chengdu.

 

Spreatrum to set up West China headquarters in Chengdu

February 12, 2012

Nasdaq-listed Spreatrum Communications Inc. (Spreatrum) signed an agreement on Monday with the management of Chengdu Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone on establishing Spreatrum’s western China headquarters, RD center and technology support center. Spreadtrum is a fabless semiconductor company that develops baseband and RF processor solutions for the wireless communications market. Spreatrum said in an announcement that it will invest up to RMB200 million in its projects in Chengdu which, according to chairman of Spreadtrum Leo Li, will be one of Spreatrum’s key global production bases.

 

Chengdu tops West China in service outsourcing

February 6, 2012

Recent statistics by the Ministry of Commerce indicate that Chengdu leads cities in western China in service outsourcing, with the contract value of offshore service outsourcing of USD610 million and the executed value of USD470 million, up 47.08% and 80.91% respectively, said officials from Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Commerce on Tuesday. As one of China’s designated pilot cities for the service outsourcing industry, Chengdu has the advantages in living environment, human resources, lower operational costs and government support for the development of the sector, according to analysts. Over 40 multinational enterprises, including IBM, Accenture and Wipro, have settled their global delivery centers, shared service centers and RD centers in Chengdu. It is expected that the service outsourcing of Chengdu will realize a GDP of RMB50 billion this year, with about 220 thousand people to serve in the sector. Bleum, one of the leading software outsourcing companies in China, reached an agreement with Tianfu Software Park on Tuesday to set up its subsidiary company in Chengdu.

 

Chengdu Airport rises to be a national air transportation hub

February 6, 2012

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) declared in a report at a meeting this week that Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (Chengdu Airport) had been listed as one of the four national air transportation hubs, together with the airports in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Chengdu Airport takes a significant lead among airports in central and western China and ranks the fifth in throughput among airports nationwide, according to the report of last year. The latest statistics show that during the 25-day peak season of the Spring Festival, a total of 16, 602 airplanes arrived or left the Chengdu Airport, with the passenger throughput reaching 2.05 million.

 

Chengdu, Sydney sign cooperation agreement

February 6, 2012

The governments of Chengdu and Sydney of Australia on Monday signed a series of documents on promoting bilateral cooperation. Finance, commerce, tourism and education will be the focuses of future cooperation between the two cities, which reached an agreement on establishing friendship relationship at a forum held in Sydney on the same day. People in Sydney shared happiness with the Chinese people to celebrate the Chinese New Year at a ceremony called Meeting the Chinese Spring Festival in Sydney on Jan. 29 when a grand parading, staged by some 3, 000 performers from the locality and China, proceeded down the streets of the city, cheered by thousands of spectators along the route. The team from Chengdu presented an eye-catching sight of the parading group and Chengdu, as the sole official partner of the ceremony of this year, brought to Sydney a number of programs, including performances, photo shows and Sichuan cuisine exhibitions.

 

Lotte to open flagship shop in Chengdu

February 6, 2012

South Korea’s Lotte Department Group (Lotte) signed an agreement on Wednesday with the government of Chengdu to set up Lotte’s flagship shopping facility at the New Century Global Shopping Center in southern Chengdu. The Shopping Center, with a construction area of 400 thousand square meters, is located at the core of Tianfu New City area. Lotte Department Store at the center will be Lotte’s flagship shop in China, designed to be a multi-functional complex comprising shopping, entertainments, catering and cultural exchange facilities. The shopping center is

expected to open in 2013.

 

Chengdu-Kaohsiung direct flight launched

February 6, 2012

The direct flight from Chengdu to Kaoshing started on Jan.29 as an MD-82, flight number FE182, took off at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport at 18:35 pm. The Chengdu-Kaohsiung direct flight, operated by Taiwan-based Far Eastern Air Transport (FAT), is the first line linking southwestern China and the south of Taiwan province. One flight a week is scheduled currently between the two cities and FAT plans two flights a week in the near future.

 

Schneider Electric sets up Chengdu branch

February 6, 2012

Schneider Electric, a Fortune Global 500 company, settled its subsidiary facility at Rennan Technology and Commerce Zone in southern Chengdu on Wednesday, according to the government of Wuhou District of Chengdu. Rennan Technology and Commerce Zone has 26 Fortune Global 500 companies to settle down within its area. A number of key projects in the area will soon be completed and several large scale city functional communities in the neighborhood are under construction in order to attract more multi-national enterprises, said officials from the government of Wuhou District.

 

SINA to settle wireless application RD center in Chengdu

January 22, 2012

China’s leading online media mobile value-added services provider SINA Corporation has reached an agreement with the management of Chengdu Hi-tech Zone to set up its wireless application RD center and start a wholly foreign-owned enterprise at the zone, said the zone management on Monday. According to the agreement, the two facilities will be in charge of the R&D of the products and applications for SINA’s mobile microblogging platform and mobile services.

 

Woori Bank sets up Chengdu branch

January 22, 2012

Woori Bank started its business in Chengdu on Monday. It is the 13th foreign bank settling in Chengdu, which has the largest number of foreign banks among cities in central and western China. Woori Bank is a part of the Woori Financial Group, the largest bank in South Korea. The company offers a range of products and services, which includes deposits, loans, cards, funds, insurances, foreign exchange, and trading finance to its customers.
 

Intel settles logistics hub in Chengdu

January 15, 2012

Intel Corporation announced on Jan.9 that it was to set up the Western China Logistics Hub in Chengdu, when the 1 billionth chip of Intel’s chip packaging and testing facility in Chengdu was completed on the same day, marking the Chengdu plant’s output has reached a milestone. Intel General Manager Robin Martin said at an interview with top officials of Chengdu on the same day that the Chengdu plant showed “an unprecedented development speed” among all Intel’s packing and testing factories in the world. He hoped the establishment of the Western China Logistics Hub in Chengdu will further promote the development of the Chengdu plant. The Western China Logistics Hub in Chengdu is one of Intel’s three logistics hubs in China. The other two hubs are in Shanghai and Shenzhen.

 

Fortune Global 500 companies in Chengdu confident in future development

January 15, 2012

Representatives from Fortune Global 500 companies in Chengdu held a meeting on Monday in the city to celebrate the coming Lunar Chinese New Year and exchange ideas with local governments. Chengdu stands out among the cities in central and western China with the largest amount of investment from Fortune Global 500 companies, and so far 207 Fortune Global 500 companies have settled in the city. Chengdu’s improving infrastructure, complete industrial structure and government efficiency were cited as factors to attract more global companies to settle in the city.

 

Hunan enterprises to start industrial park in eastern Chengdu

January 15, 2012

Hunan Xiangshang Industrial Park, a concentration of investment programs by enterprises of Hunan province, will soon be launched in Longquanyi District in eastern Chengdu. The project with an area of 15 hectares will involve an investment of RMB3 billion, according to officials of the Hunan Chamber of Commerce in Sichuan, who said the enterprises in Hunan showed great interest in getting involved for the future development of the Tianfu New Area.

 

Harman to start RD center in Chengdu

January 15, 2012

Harman International Industries Incorporated (Harman) signed an agreement on Thursday to establish a new research and development center in Chengdu. “The decision is based on our confidence of the prospect of the Tianfu New Area and the development of Chengdu’s Automobile industry,” said Harman’s President Country Manager for China and North Asia. The research and development center in Chengdu is designed to be Harman’s fifth global research and development center. Harman International Industries, Incorporated is an American-based international audio and infotainment equipment company. Harman’s automotive division sells branded audio systems through several car makers, including Mercedes- Benz, Toyota/Lexus, BMW, and General Motors.

 

Sichuan industrial strength sees rapid growth

January 8, 2012

Sichuan Provincial Economic and Information Commission said on Jan.1 that the latest statistics show the added value of industry in the sector of large-scale industrial enterprises in Sichuan made an average 20% growth last year, while the large enterprises strengthened competitiveness on the market. It is expected that over 40 enterprises in the province will each realize a sales income exceeding RMB10 billion for the previous year, and Chengdu Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone will realize a GDP of over RMB100 billion for the year.

 

First Financial Holding Chengdu company starts operation

January 8, 2012

Taiwan-based First Financial Holding Co., Ltd set up its second company in the Chinese mainland this week as its subsidiary, Chengdu Jinkong Financial Leasing Company, celebrated its opening in Chengdu on Thursday. The company is the first financial business institution from Taiwan province in western China. First Financial Holding’s another subsidiary in the Chinese mainland, FCB Leasing (Suzhou), was put into operation in March 2011. President of First Financial Holding Tsai Ching-Nain said he was optimistic about the business development in Chengdu, which is one of the cities with the largest investments from Taiwan.

 

Large projects to propel development of Tianfu New Area

January 4, 2012

Top officials of Sichuan provincial government announced the collective launch of a number of large-scale projects on Dec. 25 at a ceremony in Shuangliu County in southern Chengdu, starting a new wave of industrialization in the province, with the Tianfu New Area as the focus. Of the 150 projects launched, most of which are now under construction, Chengdu had 84 projects worth RMB214 billion. Most of them have settled in the Tianfu New Area.

 

Chengdu named a leading city of software industry in China

January 4, 2012

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has officially conferred the title of “Leading City of Software Industry in China” to Chengdu, said departments of Chengdu municipal government on Tuesday. Chengdu is the third city in the Chinese mainland to win the title, after Nanjing and Jinan. The sector of software and IT service is one of the backbone industries for strategic development in Chengdu and the city has risen to be the most important software production base in central and western China. The sector of software and IT service made a revenue of main business of over RMB100 billion for the earlier 10 months of the year, a 51% growth over the same period last year.

 

Chengdu’s foreign trade shows strong momentum

January 4, 2012

A new report by the statistics department of Chengdu municipal government on Wednesday indicates that the city’s economy had a robust growth for the previous 11 Months of the year, and that its import and export surged for the same period. The report shows that foreign investment in actual use had growths of over 60% for the period, while the volume of foreign trade exceeded US$34.1 billion, a 52.2% increase over the same period last year, with the volume of export well over US$20 billion, almost a 62% increase over the same period last year.

 

Underground traffic construction in full swing

January 4, 2012

Local government announced on Wednesday the start of three main projects to build up the city’s underground traffic network that is expected to provide more efficient and more convenient transportation in the future. The three projects launched on the same day are Chengdu Metro Line 4, the Eastern Extension of Chengdu Metro Line 2 and the Southern Extension of Chengdu Metro Line 1. As planned, Chengdu Metro Line 4 will have a total length of 41.7 kilometers, running east-west across the city from the Longquanyi District in the east to Wenjiang District in the west. The first phase project is expected to be put into operation by the end of 2015. The Eastern Extension of Chengdu Metro Line 2 runs about 11 kilometers long and is considered to be a speed traffic link between the downtown areas of Chengdu and the Longquanyi District, which is now an important part of the Tianfu New Area, the city’s new economic growth pole. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2014.

 

Lenovo, Compal projects start operation

December 25, 2011

Lenovo and Compal held ceremonies on Monday in Chengdu for the trial production of their Chengdu factories. The operation of two factories marked a significant step of Chengdu in its pursuit of making itself one of the most important computer makers in the world, as the two factories will greatly boost Chengdu’s productivity in IT products. The Compal factory, for example, is expected to achieve a production capacity of 40 million laptops by the year of 2015.

 

Chengdu on list of top 10 destinations in Asia-Pacific for FDI

December 25, 2011

The fDi Magazine, an English-language bi-monthly news and foreign direct investment publication owned by The Financial Times Ltd, included Chengdu, Hong Kong and Guangzhou in its new rankings for the Top 10 Asia-Pacific cities for Best FDI Strategy, said departments of Chengdu municipal government on Monday. Foreign Direct Investment, or FDI, is a measure of foreign ownership of domestic productive assets such as factories, land and organizations. It has become the major economic driver of globalization. Singapore tops the rankings, followed by Melbourne, Hong Kong, Brisbane, Sidney, Pusan, Auckland, Perth, Guangzhou and Chengdu. Chengdu is the sole representative of the cities in the Chinese inland in the rankings.

 

CCB Chengdu headquarters launched

December 25, 2011

China Construction Bank (CCB) held the foundation- laying ceremony for its Chengdu headquarters on Thursday. The construction of the project will involve RMB3 billion and it will be put into operation by the end of 2015. As CCB’s only operational center in western China, the Chengdu headquarters will be a multi-functional operational base of financial products for administration, business R&D and back-up services.

 

Philips settles LED factory in Chengdu

December 18, 2011

Philips (China) Investment Co., Ltd and Chengdu municipal government signed an agreement on Thursday in Chengdu on strategic cooperation. The agreement for the settlement of Philips LED project in Chengdu was also reached on the same day and Philips announced its second headquarters in China will be launched in the city. According to the strategic cooperation agreement, Philips will start an industrial park in Chengdu, which will promote the energy-saving and sustainable development projects in the city and its neighboring areas. Philips LED factory in Chengdu is a 25-ml Euro project, which will be initiated early next year and be put into operation in 2013.

 

Dell to strengthen recruitment for Chengdu company

December 18, 2011

Dell China Chairman Amit Midha said on Wednesday in Chengdu that Dell’s Chengdu company will expand its size by adding some 700 more to its present employees of 300 in the near future. Mr. Midha attended the opening ceremony for Dell’s new office in Chengdu and gave a lecture at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China.

 

Key projects to promote Tianfu New Area development

December 18, 2011

A number of projects worth RMB150 billion will soon be launched in Chengdu Economy and Technology Development Zone in eastern Chengdu’s Longquanyi District. The district is one of the core areas of the Chengdu Tianfu New Area, a newly established national-level economic development zone in China, where the International Car City is emerging as one of the leading automobile production bases in the country. Chengdu municipal government has an ambitious plan to make the Car City one of the two major economic growth poles for the Chengdu Tianfu New Area. The planned economic development zone in Longquanyi District has an area of some 30 square kilometers and some of global car manufacturers, including Volvo Cars, have settled their factories in the zone. Most projects in the zone have been under construction. Volvo’s project will involve an investment of RMB10.6 billion.

 

Tyco opens new Chengdu center

December 18, 2011

Tyco Flow Control, a major business segment of Tyco International, opened a new plant in Chengdu on Thursday. It is Tyco’s production base of the largest-sized ball valves in the world.

 

Etihad opens Chengdu- Abu Dhabi direct flight

December 18, 2011

Etihad Airways, the flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates, announced the official launch of the direct flight from Chengdu to Abu Dhabi on Thursday. Etihad Airways have up to now started direct flights to Abu Dhabi in two cities in China. The other city is Beijing.

 

FedEX launches Chengdu-US freight flight

December 11, 2011

The US logistics services company FedEx Corporation started the first freight flight from Chengdu to the US early this week, officials from Sichuan Airport Group said on Tuesday. FedEX is the third US company, after UPS and Evergreen Int’l Airlines, that has established cooperation relationships with Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport. The route of the new freight flight starts from Delhi, via Chengdu and Guangzhou, and arrives in Anchorage, a unified home rule municipality in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Alaska.

 

IT leaders in Chengdu for talks on development

December4, 2011

The Two Summits – the annual meeting for China IT CEO and the annual meeting for China IT CIO, the most influential event in China’s IT industry, opened in Chengdu on Thursday. It is the first time that the Summit has been held in a city other than Beijing since the inauguration of the events in 2000. The themes of the events of this year focus on the upgrading and transformation of China’s IT industry.

 

Hanwha Group settles headquarters in Chengdu

December4, 2011

South Korea’s Hanwha Group declared its ambitious plan to enhance presence in western China on Wednesday as it signed an agreement of strategic cooperation with Chengdu Investment Holding Group on the same day. Hanwha will set up its headquarters in Chengdu, according to the agreement. “I hope that it would not be too late to start our cooperation with Chengdu and I have full confidence for the future development of our business,” said chief executive of Hanwha Group China Keum Choon-soo at the signing ceremony.

 

Longquanyi gears up development of auto industry

December4, 2011

The government of Longquanyi District in eastern Chengdu publicized its plan late last month that the district will be made one of the leading automobile production bases in China. The district is included in the Tianfu New Area, which is aimed to be made an international modern new urban district suitable for manufacturing, business and living with its focuses on the modern manufacture and high-end service industries. Longquanyi District has become a new hot spot in China for the automobile industry in recent years, with globally leading manufacturers such as Volkswagen, Toyota and Volvo settling in its area.

 

Foxconn: Chengdu factory to be world No.1 iPad maker

November 27, 2011

Foxconn President Terry Gou said early this week in Chengdu that Foxconn’s factory in Chengdu will be made the largest production base in the world. “I can say with confidence that Chengdu will have the largest iPad production base globally, with two thirds of the iPads in the world coming from the city,” Terry Gou is quoted as saying at an interview. He said that Foxconn will increase investments for the factory next year and the smartphone production, a cooperative project with Changhong Electric, will be formally launched next year.

 

Shuangliu to start IOT industrial park

November 27, 2011

A national-level Internet of Things (IOT) industrial park will be launched in Shuangliu County in southern Chengdu, said local government on Wednesday at 2011 China Internet of Things Forum, which is held in the county this week. The IOT industrial park will occupy an area of some 3.5 square kilometers and the construction has been underway, said officials from the government of Shuangliu County. One of the establishments in the park will be an R&D center, a cooperative project with University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. At the forum, Chengdu signed contracts on some 20 IOT projects with a total investment of RMB7.1 billion.

 

Continental AG optimistic about Chengdu’s auto industry

November 27, 2011

Continental China, a subsidiary of Continental AG with its headquarters in Shanghai, held the annual management meeting this week in Chengdu. Continental China Jay Kunkel said he had confidence of Chengdu’s auto industry development and it is very likely that Continental AG will soon start its operation in Chengdu. Continental AG is a worldwide leading German manufacturer of tires, brake systems, vehicle stability control systems, engine injection systems, tachygraphy and other parts for the automotive and transport industries. The company is based in Hanover, Germany.

 

Automotive aftermarket industry expo held in Chengdu

November 27, 2011

The 3rd West China Automotive Aftermarket Industry Expo is held in Longquanyi District in eastern Chengdu. The event is the most influential platform in western China for purchase, idea exchange in the fields and exhibition of automobile spare parts. Longquanyi District is an emerging production base of automobile industry in China.

 

Chengdu hosts digital entertainment week

November 20, 2011

The seven-day Fourth Chengdu International Digital Entertainment Week opened in Chengdu on Monday. The Digital Entertainment Week is sponsored by Chengdu municipal government and top IT enterprises such as Intel, Lenovo, LG, Compal, Winstron and over 100 IT companies from all over the world took part in the event with electronic information forums and consuming carnivals. LG CNS China, a subsidiary of LG, announced that it had decided to settle its operation center, the first in West China, in Wuhou district of Chengdu.
 

Chengdu named national E-commerce pilot city

November 20, 2011

The National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Commerce and six other departments of the central government on Wednesday named Chengdu as one of the first batch of national E-commerce cities. Chengdu municipal government announced its plan at a press conference on the same day to make the city a leading E-commerce base in China. Mobile E-commerce and E-government are included in the plan as future focuses, which are believed to provide better efficiency and more convenience for the public

 

Chengdu factory key role in global strategy: Lenovo

November 13, 2011

Lenovo’s senior vice president of global supply chain Gerry Smith said on Wednesday Lenovo’s factory in the city will be the company’s key production base in its global strategy. Lenovo is a multinational computer company that develops, manufactures and markets desktop and notebook computers, workstations, servers, storage drives, IT management software, and other related products and services. Mr. Smith stressed that the development of the production base is not aimed at the Chinese market but overseas. Lenovo’s factory in Chengdu will be put into operation next month.

 

Chengdu hosts SME E-commerce Conference

November 13, 2011

The 2011 China SME E-commerce Conference was held Nov. 8-9 in Chengdu. Over 800 people from the E-commerce companies, online sales providers and venture capital institutions from all over the country took part in the event. It is the second time Chengdu hosted the event. The E-commerce of Chengdu has seen a strong development in recent years and in 2010, the turnover of E-commerce in the city exceeded RMB100 billion.

 

Sofmit named best outsourcing company

November 13, 2011

Local outsourcing company Sofmit won the title of “China’s Best Outsourcing Company 2011” for its innovative operational modes last week. The title represents the top award for China’s outsourcing companies, decided on the basis of the analysis report by China Outsourcing Network and chnsourcing. com, which publish the annual rankings of the outsourcing companies in the country. Located in Chengdu Hitech Zone, Sofmit is one of the leading professional IT services outsourcing companies in China.

 

360buy to settle RD center in Chengdu

November 13, 2011

China’s leading online sales company 360buy.com said on Wednesday that it had decided to set up an R&D base in southern Chengdu. The company will take part in the 4th Chengdu International Digital Entertainment Week, which will open in the city on Nov. 14.

 

Sichuan, Rose Rock sign strategic co-op agreement

November 6, 2011

The government of Sichuan province and the Rose Rock Partners reached an agreement on strategic cooperation on Thursday in Chengdu. Top government officials from Sichuan and president of Rose Rock Partners Steven Clark Rockefeller, Jr. signed the agreement. Rose Rock Partners is a Rockefeller family founded enterprise with a focus on real estate and infrastructure development, fund management, and advisory services in China. The agreement covers a wide range of cooperation in the industries of finance, aviation, new energy, hi-tech, tourism and education.

 

Rail cargo freight to link Chengdu and Europe

November 6, 2011

Officials from Chengdu municipal government and CEO of DB Schenker (China) held a meeting on Thursday to confirm that the Chengdu-Germany international rail cargo freight was to be launched by the March of 2012. DB Schenker, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn AG, combines the units DB Schenker Rail and DB Schenker Logistics, comprising rail, land transport, air and ocean freight and contract logistics/SCM. The operation of the freight will drastically reduce the expenditure and the time of transportation, bringing it down to about 16 days. The preliminary work for the launch of the freight has been completed.

 

Large project launched at Tianfu New Area

November 6, 2011

The governments of Chengdu and Meishan reached an agreement last week to start a huge petro-chemical project at the Chengdu Tianfu New Area, a modern industrial development zone that covers part Chengdu and the neighboring areas. The project, with an area of some 10 square kilometers, is to be made a production base of natural gas products and petro-chemical products.

 

Planning of pan-Chengdu modern industrial zone approved

October 30, 2011

Chengdu municipal government said on Thursday that the planning of the Chengdu Tianfu New Area, a large area consisting of part of Chengdu and the neighboring areas for the development of modern manufacturing and service industries, had been approved by Sichuan provincial government. According to the planning, the Tianfu New Area will be made into an international and modern urban district suitable for manufacturing, business and living with its focuses on the modern manufacture and high-end service industries. The area covers 37 towns and the neighboring seven counties (cities/districts) of three cities, with the total area of 1,578 square kilometers. The Tianfu New Area consists of the EDZs and TDZs in Chengdu, Shuangliu, Pengshan, Renshou and the neighboring areas of the Longquan Lake, the Longquan Mountains and the Sancha Lake. The goal of the ambitious planning of the Tianfu New Area, a state-level economic development zone, is to promote the integration of the pan-Chengdu areas in order to create an international and modern new urban district.

 

City’s GDP gets a 15% growth

October 30, 2011

Chengdu municipal government said at a press conference on Thursday that Chengdu realized a GDP of RMB 500 billion in the first three quarters, a remarkable 15.1% increase over last year. IT & electronic, machinery, auto-making, food, beverage, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, petro-chemicals and construction materials are cited as the fastest growing sectors, while the large-scale enterprises in the city signaled a 22.4% growth during the period. Foreign trade also saw a surge for the period and statistics show that the city realized a total amount of USD26.68 billion in import and export, an increase of 48.4% year-on-year.

 

WCIF sees growing international involvement

October 23, 2011

The 12th Western China International Fair (WCIF) opened Thursday in Chengdu with contracts worth hundreds of billions of yuan inked on the initial day. A record 4, 564 businesses from 52 countries and regions attended the event, including Siemens AG, Dell, and Bosch, said organizers. Organizers said the event is represented by eight more countries and regions compared with the previous event of last year. Five hundred projects, involving 394.6 billion yuan ($61.8 billion) of investment, between China’s western regions and enterprises from home and abroad were signed on the first day of the fair. Chengdu signed 109 investment projects, with the total amount of RMB85 billion, of the 500 projects. The projects focus on sectors such as service, high-tech industry, equipment manufacturing, and infrastructure. The WCIF, hosted jointly by governing bodies of China’s western areas, is a comprehensive state-level fair that contributes to trade and investment. It’s also a platform to boost cooperation between Western and Eastern China, as well as between China and foreign countries. The exhibition area is 180,000 square meters in size, and includes six main halls and distributing halls. Having being held in Chengdu for 11 straight years, the fair is attended by nearly 70,000 officials and business people this year.

 

Siemens to build Chengdu plant, R&D base

October 23, 2011

Siemens AG announced on Monday it will set up an industrial automation manufacturing and research and development (R&D) base in Chengdu, a move to further exploit China’s western market and enhance R&D capability in the nation. The base will be Siemens’ largest digital factory in China and the third R&D center for its industrial automation business, following ones in Germany and the United States. It is scheduled to begin operations by the first half of 2012. The digital factory is to cover the whole production chain –design, manufacturing, logistics, marketing and sales –digitally and integrate the use of IT systems throughout, which is expected to shorten the time it takes products to reach the market by 50 percent, Siemens said. The factory will produce high-end PLC (programmable logic controller) serial products, besides meeting local demand, the company said. The R&D center will be a part of Siemens’ global industrial automation network and will focus first on the Chinese market and ultimately contribute to the international business.

 

Chengdu tops China in attracting service outsourcing investment

October 23, 2011

Chengdu ranked first among Chinese cities in attracting investment on service outsourcing, according to a recent report, said Chengdu municipal bureau of commerce earlier this month. Chengdu tops the rankings with 88.36 points in the report called the Evaluation Report on Investment Attracting Capacities of Chinese Service Outsourcing Cities in 2011. The report is the only professional assessment of the Chinese service outsourcing industry on investment attractiveness of Chinese cities engaging in service outsourcing. According to Qi Haitao, CEO of China Outsourcing Network, which initiated the evaluation activity, the report has put forward the IEEG evaluation system for Chinese service outsourcing cities. The system evaluates service outsourcing cities in diversified angles and all-round approach to comprehensively reflect the overall strength and investment attractiveness of the cities. Qi says that “in this evaluation, Chengdu has the highest average score, because it has low comprehensive costs, sound overall industrial environment, and a good whole industry motivation system.” In recent years, Chengdu has given priority to developing service outsourcing as a key emerging business. The service outsourcing industry has developed fast. In 2010, the city’s service outsourcing output values exceeded RMB30 billion, with 100, 000 employees in the sector

 

Chengdu-Kaohsiung direct flight to be opened

October 23, 2011
The Far Eastern Air Transport of Taiwan province announced that it was to launch scheduled direct flight from Chengdu to Kaihsiung early next month. The flights will be on every Sunday and Monday, according to Far Eastern Air Transport’s plans, which are to be approved by concerned administrations, and a fleet of MD-82 planes will be employed for the flights.

 

Chengdu to have a new airport

September 25, 2011

The News Office of Chengdu municipal government on Wednesday declared online in a microblog that the proposal to build a new airport in Chengdu had been approved by the central government, making a stir among local people. The microblog said that the proposal had been included in the plan by the Ministry of Transport that outlines the transportation development in China for the 12th Five-year Plan period (2011-2015). Chengdu has an ambitious plan for the period to make itself one of the key international air-traffic hubs in China. According to the proposal by Chengdu municipal government, the construction of the new airport will be carried out during the 12th Five-year Plan period and it will be put into operation in the next Five-year Plan period. The new airport will have an annual capacity of 80 million passengers and freight of 6 million metric tons. The municipal government said that the site of the new airport, a hot topic of discussions online, had not yet been decided.

 

Chengdu-Chongqing region emerges as a global laptop production base

September 25, 2011

Statistics released by Chengdu Customs on Monday said that the export of laptops manufactured in Sichuan province and Chongqing Municipality reached 14.63 million in the early eight months of the year, accounting for 50.6% of the increased export of 28.94 million from China for the same period. China’s total laptop export reached 140 million for the early months of this year, a 26.5% increase year-on-year. Chengdu Customs said that new settlements of global IT companies in the city, as well as the launch of operation of the Chengdu Free Trade Zone this May, had helped promote the IT industry of the region in the era of global shift of the industry.

 

Sichuan, Singapore sign big deal on industrial park

September 18, 2011

Singapore and Sichuan province on Thursday agreed to tie up to explore the development of a large hitech innovation park in Chengdu. The Singapore-Sichuan Hi-tech Innovation Park, with an area of 35 sq km, is expected to integrate modern manufacturing, modern services and modern living into one and become a key regional business hub in West China. Other key areas of collaboration are in transport & logistics, education, food & beverage and retail, urban infrastructure, info-comm technology, and banking & finance.

 

Chengdu starts 5-scheduled freight trains to Alashankou

September 18, 2011

The administration of Chengdu railway transportation launched the five-scheduled freight trains on Thursday to the Alashankou Port in Xinjiang Autonomous Region in northwestern China. The Alashankou Port is a bridgehead station linking the inland areas of China to central and western Asia, said officials from Chengdu Customs. The five-scheduled freight transportation means scheduled station, scheduled train number, scheduled route, scheduled time and scheduled price. The practice will drastically cut down on the price of transportation.

 

Financial industry development in Chengdu shows strong momentum

September 18, 2011

A report released this week by China Development Institute (CDI), an independent research and consulting institution in Shenzhen, shows that Chengdu has made a significant progress in promoting the over-all strength of its financial industry in recent years. The report of this year, called the third issuse of China Financial Centres Index, provides an objective evaluation of the development of the financial centers in China’s major cities and shows that Chengdu holds the 9th place on the rankings and tops the cities in central and western China. The evaluation of the report is based on a series of new developments in the financial industry performance, the strength of financial institutions, financial market and financial ecological environment. The report by CDI published last year put Chengdu at the 19th place on the rankings.

 

CMB settles financial back-office in Chengdu

September 11, 2011

China Merchants Bank (CMB) is hastening business expansion in western China as it celebrated on Monday the foundation-laying ceremony for its back-up services center in southern Chengdu. The center, an RMB4 billion-plus multi-functional facility with the business scope covering credit cards, mobile transactions, data processing, back-up services and annuity management services, is expected to be completed in 2014. It will be the fundamental institution for CMB’s operational buildup and retail banking business in China.

 

Jones Lang LaSalle to increase investment in Chengdu

September 11, 2011

President and CEO of Jones Lang LaSalle Colin Dyer said on Wednesday at a meeting with officials of Chengdu municipal government that the company had planned to increase its investment on projects in Chengdu with an aim to make the city as a regional base for the business expansion in central and western China. Jones Lang LaSalle is a financial and professional services company specializing in real estate. The company is considered the second largest publicly traded commercial real estate brokerage firm in the world. Mr. Colin Dyer said he was optimistic of the prospect of the development of Jones Lang LaSalle in Chengdu because of the city’s dynamic growth in the past years and the great potential for development in the future.

Chengdu launches jet nose manufacturing base

September 4, 2011

A production base of jet noses for jumbo passenger planes, a project of RMB2 billion, was launched in Chengdu on Aug. 28. The production base, with an area of about 30 hectares in western Chengdu, is designed to be the leading provider of jet noses for domestically made jumbo passenger planes, such as ARJ21 and C919.

 

Fangda Group settles new-material production base in Chengdu

September 4, 2011

Liaoning Fangda Group Industrial Co., Ltd. (Fangda Group) signed an agreement with local governments on Monday to locate its western China production base in Chengdu. Fangda Group is a hi-tech industrial enterprise and leads in the field in environmental protection, energy saving and emission reduction in the country. Its new project in Chengdu will involve an investment of RMB1 billion.

 

Sichuan to promote cloud computing-based service

September 4, 2011

China Telecommunications Corporation (China Telecom) declared on Wednesday in Chengdu that it would increase investments to make Sichuan the largest cloud computing center in western China and the strategic development base for its cloud computing-base services. The plan proposed by China Telecom includes safe and instant access for families, schools, business people and SMEs, through PCs or/and mobile phones, to various services based on cloud computing, said officials from China Telecom.

 

UnionPay, 360buy to boost mobile transaction service in Chengdu

September 4, 2011

China UnionPay, the sole operator of inter-bank transaction settlement operator in China, and 360buy.com, the largest E-business retail company in China, reached an agreement on Wednesday in Chengdu on strategic cooperation for promoting online and mobile transaction services in Chengdu. President of China UnionPay Xu Luode said at the signing ceremony that the move marked an important step forward for the company’s E-business development in Chengdu and will further promote the E-business industry

 

McKinsey eyes greater presence in West China

August 28, 2011

Dr. Jonathan Woetzel, director of McKinsey & Company’s Greater China Office, said at a meeting on Wednesday in Chengdu with top officials from the municipal government that McKinsey & Company (McKinsey) had planned business expansion in western China and it was likely that the company would set up an office in the city. McKinsey & Company is a leading global management consulting firm in the world. Dr. Woetzel said McKinsey placed great importance on the role of Chengdu in China’s Gowest Strategy and the company wished to further promote cooperation with Chengdu.

 

MFLEX’s Chengdu factory put into operation

August 28, 2011

MFLEX, the largest global flexible circuit manufacturer & assembler, announced on Thursday that the first-phase construction of its new factory, the Multi-Fineline Electronic (Chengdu) Co. ltd, was officially put into operation. MFLEX’s project in Chengdu involves USD120 million and are constructed in three stages. Upon completion, the project will be MFLEX’s largest flexible circuit manufacturer and a key R&D center in China.

 

Power grid capacity to be enhanced

August 28, 2011

The department of electric power of Chengdu said on Monday that the city will increase investment on upgrading its power grid system to serve the economic development in the coming years. The city has launched two major projects, the Hongqiao Project and the Tengfei Project. The Hongqiao Project, with an investment of RMB4 billion, has been completed and greatly relieved the power thirsty during the peak hours. The Tengfei Project, which is now underway, will involve an investment of RMB25.6 billion and be completed by 2015. Upon completion of the project, the electric system of the city will have a capacity of 13 Giga Watt

 

WatchGuard settles R&D center in Chengdu

August 21, 2011

WatchGuard Technologies announced on Tuesday that its fifth global R&D center started operation at Tianfu Software Park in the south of Chengdu. WatchGuard Technologies is a pioneer in network security appliances and a provider of Internet security solutions for small to midsized businesses worldwide. CEO of WatchGuard Technologies Joe Wang attended the opening ceremony of the center and said that the rich human resources of Chengdu were a major attraction to the company in settling its R&D center in the city. WatchGuard’s R&D center in Chengdu will be engaged in testing the reliability, security and applicability of solutions and appliances provided by the company to its users around the world. Wang said that WatchGuard had an ambitious plan in the Chinese market and western China would be the focus of its expansion.

 

Chengdu to play a greater role in new economic zone

14th Aug, 2011
Sichuan provincial government held a meeting on Wednesday to call for joined efforts by all sides to seize “the historic opportunity” to make a reality the prospective development of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Zone.

The State Council has approved the plan for the construction of Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Zone, which is taken as a national strategy and given a priority by the central government for regional development.

According to the plan, Chengdu and Chongqing will be developed into twin engines for the economic zone. The provincial government said that Chengdu will play a leading role in upgrading industrial structure by optimizing its functions, pushing forward the balanced urban-rural development and making it a world-class garden city. The city will intensify its efforts in investment introduction and get ready for the global industrial shift.

 

Shuangliu airport, Sichuan airlines forge strategic cooperation 

14th, Aug, 2011

Shuangliu Airport, Sichuan Airlines forge strategic cooperation Sichuan Airlines and Shuangliu International Airport signed an agreement for strategic cooperation relationship on Wednesday on boosting the airline capacity of the airport with an aim to make it the fourth largest air traffic hub in the country by 2015. Shuangliu International Airport has the largest capacity among airports in central and western China, with 119 domestic lines and 19 direct flights.

 

Electronics manufacturing the fastest-growing sector

7th, Aug, 2011

A recent report by Chengdu Commission of Commerce shows that the electronics manufacturing of Chengdu made a growth of 35. 5% in the first half of the year, the fastest of the large-scale industrial sectors of the city. Officials attributed the surge to the expansions and operations of the projects by some world leading companies that newly settled in Chengdu, including Foxconn, Compaq and Winstron. It is expected that the manufactures in Chengdu will have a capacity of 72 million laptop units a year by October, and the city will export more than 25 million laptops in the year.

 

City sets up start-up financing to encourage innovations

7th, Aug, 2011

Chengdu municipal government announced on Thursday at a press conference that the government had launched a start-up capital funding of RMB300 million to help entrepreneurs turn innovative ideas and scientific advances into products and services that speed up the transformation of the city on its way to be an innovative city. The project is also eyed as a way to attract hi-tech young professionals to start business in the city and applicants can be provided with a capital up to RMB3 million.

 

UPS initiates operation in Chengdu

31st, Jul, 2011

An MD-11 aircraft of United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS), the world’s largest package delivery company, landed on Monday at Shuangliu International Airport in southern Chengdu and completed its maiden voyage for the company’s delivery service in Chengdu. As the first US airlines company operating in Chengdu, UPS’s Chengdu base at Shuangliu Air-port schedules five flights a week, i.e. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. UPS has a fleet of MD-11 planes, each with a capacity of 85 metric tons, to operate on the flights.

 

HK airlines launches scheduled flights

31st, Jul, 2011

Hong Kong Airlines (HK Airlines), in cooperation with local tourism administrations and leading travel agencies, hosted a press conference in Chengdu on Monday on the inauguration of its scheduled fights between Chengdu and Hong Kong. The airlines will employ Boeing airplanes for the flights that set off daily between the two cities, and the flying time lasts for about two hours and twenty minutes. Officials from HK Airlines said the service will significantly bring down the travel expenses and further promote cultural, commercial and tourism exchanges between Chengdu and Hong Kong

 

Chengdu plans to be a leader in cloud computing service

19th, Jul, 2011

Chengdu municipal government released its plan on Monday to promote the applications of cloud computing and its industrial development. According to the plan, the city will make cloud computing one of its most important infrastructural sector and upgrade cloud computing service systems and production facilities of basic hard-ware and software and its end user products. By 2015, Chengdu will be the largest provider of cloud computing service and the end user products in the world. Local government officials said that Chengdu has complete infrastructure of IT networks and information computing, storage and security systems. It is the first city in the Chinese mainland to put supercomputing into commercial use, E-commerce and scientific research. The Chengdu Super Computing Center at the hi-tech zone in the south of the city has achieved a computation speed of 140 trillion calculations per second.

 

Air China starts direct flight between Chengdu and Tokyo

16th, Jul, 2011

Air China’s Southwest Branch, based in Chengdu, launched Chengdu-Tokyo direct flight on Thursday. The operation is the first direct flight line to link Tokyo and cities in western China. Air China will schedule three A-319 flights in a week (Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday) for the line from July 1. The one-way flight will take about four and a half hours, a considerable save in time compared with the previous 10-hour journey between the two cities that had to take a stop-over.

 

Rakon launches Chengdu factory

12th, Jul, 2011

Rakon Limited (Rakon) announced on Monday in Chengdu the inauguration of Rakon Crystal (Chengdu)Co.ltd. Officials from Chengdu municipal government and Rakon were present at the opening ceremony.

Executive director of Rakon Limited Brent Robinson said that Rakon Crystal (Chengdu) is the Rakon’s second project in China and will be the production base of high-standard timing and frequency-control products, which have a wide range of applications in the GPS and telecommunications network market.
The Chengdu project involves an investment of USD85 million and is expected to start production next month. Rakon is a New-Zealand-based manufacturer of frequency-timing solutions, primarily quartz crystals and temperature-compensated crystal oscillators. Since 1990 Rakon has specialized in supplying frequency-control products to the GPS industry. The company has leading market positions in the supply of crystal oscillators to the GPS, telecommunications network timing/synchronization and aerospace markets.

 

Dell, Intel start e-management solution center

6th, Jul, 2011

Dell and Intel unveiled their e-management solution center on Wednesday at Chengdu Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone in the south of the city.  The solution center, with the applications of mobile telecommunication, cloud computing and intelligent database, can serve for varied purposes including education, medical care and e-government.

 

City expects strong growth in software industry

29th, Apr, 2011

The software industry of Chengdu will make an annual income of RMB320 billion by the year of 2015, according to a report publicized by departments of Chengdu municipal government at ChinaSoft 2011. The report says that the software industry of the city made a remarkable growth in recent years, with an annual growth rate of 35%. A number of national-level software and IT industrial parks have settled in the city.

 

Chinasoft 2011 opens in Chengdu

29th, Apr, 2011

    The 9th China International Software Cooperation Conference (ChinaSoft 2011), with a theme of “Intelligent City, Green IT” opened in Chengdu on Wednesday.
    ChinaSoft 2011 is sponsored by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the State Intellectual Property Office, China Council for the Promotion International Trade and Sichuan provincial government and is participated by more than 60 leading companies and more than 70 companies and organizations from the USA, the UK, France, Spain, Japan, South Korea, India, Israel, Singapore, the Hong Kong and Macao SARs and Taiwan province, as well as companies in the Chinese mainland, including Cisco, Microsoft, Intel, Panduit, Taiyo, Fuji Electric, ARM, EMS, HWM, Sony-Ericsson, Dawning and Neusoft. Chengdu inaugurated ChinaSoft in 2003 and the event has become an important part of the city government’s efforts to make Chengdu China’s Famous Software City for its help in promoting international exchange and cooperation.
    The event of this year will put up a series of exhibitions and host six forums, while negotiations and visits will take place during the event, which registered an attendance of about 3, 500.
    A theme forum of “building an intelligent city” was held after the opening ceremony on Wednesday, when top officials and professionals from leading companies of the IT industry from China and overseas were invited to give suggestions on the topic and the development of software industry of the city.
    Chengdu is the pioneering city in the Chinese mainland to launch a cloud computing center and the first city to apply the technology to E-government management. The Supercomputing Center in the south of the city will in the coming two years enhance its capacity for the third time, which is expected to reach a speed of petafl op/s.

 

Nation’s largest pharmaceutical expo held in Chengdu

21st, Apr, 2011

Pharmchina, the largest expo of the pharmaceutical industry in China, opened in Chengdu on Thursday. The API & Interphex China was also inaugurated in the city the same day.

A total of 100 thousand square meters has been arranged for the exhibition of the products, equipments, packaging and raw materials of the pharmaceutical industry and over 3, 500 companies from 18 countries and regions take part in the events, which are expected to register an attendance of 100 thousand during the 3-day period.

More than 100 forums and meetings will also be held at the events to discuss on the issues concerning management, marketing, international cooperation and the application of modern technologies to the development of the industry.

 

EMC R&D center settles in Chengdu

19th, Apr, 2011

EMC Corporation signed an agreement on Tuesday in Chengdu that its R&D center will be set up at Chengdu Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone in the south of the city.

The center, located at Tianfu Software Park within the Zone, is EMC’s third R&D center in China after those in Beijing and Shanghai and is designed to be a technology and development operation of database, cloud computing and global solutions. It is expected to be put into service this year.

 

Dell to launch new operation site in Chengdu

23rd, Mar, 2011

    Dell executives celebrated the groundbreaking ceremony of the company’s new global operation site in Chengdu on Wednesday. Located in the comprehensive bonded zone in the western zone of Chengdu High-tech Zone, the new Dell site is expected to become a key element in the company’s growth.
    Dell chose the site due to favorable growth projections and the country’s commitment to build a world-class supply chain ecosystem in Sichuan, making it an optimal location to ramp and grow its ability to serve the needs of customers in western China and beyond. Dell announced plans to open its second major China operation center last September. It will include manufacturing, sales and services operation. About 3,000 jobs may be created in the Chengdu site and neighboring areas when the center is fully operational.
    As a world-class operation, the new site in Sichuan will employ Dell’s global product development and design resources to provide products serving clients in government, large enterprises, small and medium-sized firms and consumers. It is expected to begin operation later this year. The new Chengdu site, in conjunction with the Xiamen center, will develop a global product supply system that will help satisfy domestic and global needs.
    On the strength of the talent pool, distribution infrastructure and supporting policies of the region, Sichuan is the best choice for our investment. The groundbreaking ceremony of the Chengdu site shows Dell’s commitment and determination in its goal to have a firm root in the Chinese market, said Dell China Chairman Amit Midha.
    China is Dell’s second largest revenue producing country after the United States. From fiscal year 2000 to 2010, Dell China’s revenue grew 11 fold.

 

Chengdu-Lanzhou railway under construction Chengdu launches powergrid upgrading project

13th March, 2011

The city kicked off its massive power grid upgrading project on Wednesday with a ceremony to celebrate the operation of a 220-kv substation in southern Chengdu. The project, called the Soaring Project, will involve an investment totaling over RMB25 billion to upgrade the substations, electric circuit and strengthen the production capacity to significantly increase the production and improve the capacity load ratio of the grid network of the city. The project is believed to be of great importance to the economic development of Chengdu and to the city’s drive to make it a world-class garden city.

 

Airport says second runway trial operation a success

13th March, 2011

 Shuangliu International Airport declared on Tuesday that the third time and final trial operation of its second runway was successful after a comprehensive examination of all the operations of aircraft landing, illumination, communications and so on that proved reliable and up to the operational standards. The airport said the data obtained from the trial operation had been submitted to Civil Aviation Administration of China for its examination and the approval to grant the use of the runway, which is expected by the end of next month.

 

 

The construction of Chengdu-Lanzhou railway

6th March, 2011
A newly-designed route to link Chengdu and Lanzhou, started last week when an inauguration ceremony was held in Songpan County in northwestern Sichuan. The railway with a total length of 463 kilometers and an estimated investment of RMB 62 billion will be the first rail line to run across thenorthwestern regions in Sichuan province. Upon completion, it is believed, the traveling hours from Chengdu to Lanzhou will be shortened to four hours while it will only take two hours from Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou, a famous travel destination noted for its natural beauty.

 

 

Chengdu a pilot city in service industry reform

22nd Febuary, 2011

Chengdu Commerce Bureau said on Thursday that Chengdu was named by the National Development and Reform Commission one of the first pilot cities for comprehensive reform in the service industry. Focus of the reform in the five years of the trial period will be on reforming the system of the industry and improving the mechanisms, so as to realize the adjustment of development modes and industrial structure, expand internal demands and foster new economic growth points. According to the plans by local governments, the added value from the service industry will account for two-thirds of the city’s GDP by the year of 2013 and 1.1 million more people, over the figure of 2009, will be employed in the sector by the time.

 

 

City plans more Metro lines

30th Jan, 2011 

Local transportation authority announced online earlier this week the plan for the future development of the subway traffi cin Chengdu, which indicates that the city will have 10 Metro lines instead of the originally planned seven lines. According to the plan, the total length of subway traffic lines will reach 348.2 kilometers by 2020, including 252.8 kilometers in the downtown areas.

 

 

Dell’s customer support center launched in Chengdu

23rd Jan, 2011

Dell started on Monday the operation of the Dell Chengdu Customer Support Center, the first project of its flagship center at Tianfu Software Park in southern Chengdu. Officials from Dell said at the inauguration ceremony that Chengdu is “the best choice” for the company’s ambitious strategy to expand in western China. The customer support center, one of Dell’s three major centers in China and the first in western China, is believed to significantly promote Dell’s presence in China.

 

 

Chengdu Hi-tech Park Duty Free Zone To Start Operation

West China City Daily, 6th Jan 2011, Thu

 

Chengdu Hi-tech Park Duty Free Zone will start operation this month, according to sources of Sichuan provincial departments. The examination and quarantine facilities and other functional departments of the airport logistics park, part of the Chengdu Hi-tech Park Duty Free Zone, have already been put into operation. Constructions of other facilities of the zone are underway. There are more than 30 international companies with total investment 2.23 billion USD, i.e. Intel, TI, Foxconn, Molex.

                                                                                                                                                                       

Hi-tech Park intensifies talent introduction efforts

Chengdu Weekly, 2nd Jan 2011, Sun

The administration of Chengdu Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone said last Sunday that it had set up agencies in the UK and the US to recruit high-end professionals from overseas. The move is considered as a pioneering practice by local government departments for talent introduction and the administration said that it welcomes overseas professionals to start up business in the high-tech park.

 

 

Chengdu Factory’s iPad Capacity to Reach 100ml Units in 2013

Chengdu Weekly, 2nd Jan 2011, Sun

President of Foxconn Technology Group Terry Gou announced in Chengdu this week that Foxconn’s factory in Chengdu will see “a great leap “in the coming years. To be specific c, he said that the Chengdu factory will produce40 million units of iPad this year, and the capacity is expected to reach 100 million in 2013.Foxconn’sfactory in Chengdu, the biggest investmentfor a single contract atlast year’s 10th Western China International Economy and Trade Fair, is an investment of USD1 billion and Terry Guo said Foxconn will add investment to make the factory one of Foxconn’s key production bases in the world, citing that he was “very much impressed” by the efficiency of local government departments that led to the start of the project.

 

 

Chengdu to Host Meeting of Overseas Chinese Investors

Oct 17th, 2010

The 2010 Overseas Chinese Professionals High-tech Symposium & Sichuan International Conference of Overseas Chinese Investors will be held in Chengdu Oct. 20th-23rd. About 600 government officials, high-level management and academic staff from more than 30 countries and regions will attend the meeting, so far the largest in size, and investment deals of RBM30 billion are expected to be signed during the event.

 

OECD Global forum on Trade held in Chengdu 

Oct 10th, 2010

The first key project of the 11th Western China International Fair, OECD Global Forum on Trade, opened on 13th October in Chengdu. The forum was sponsored by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD), the World Bank, the Ministry of Commerce and Sichuan provincial government. According to officials from the commercial departments of Sichuan provincial government, this is the first time China to host the forum and the theme of the event is “globalization, regional comparative advantages and trade policies”. Top government officials from China and foreign countries, as well as the commercial organizations, academic institutions and companies, attended the meeting.

 

Western China Sourcing Fair to open in October

Chengdu Weekly, August 30th, 2010

The 2010 Western China Sourcing Fair, part of the 11th Western China International Economy & Trade Fair, is scheduled to be held in Chengdu October 17-21. The event is sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce and Sichuan provincial government. The event organizer said at a press conference on Thursday that an attendance of about 10, 000 purchasers, some 4,000 from overseas and 6, 000 from China, and a turnover of RMB200 billion at the event, are expected. Online transactions will be conducted on major E-business portals in China during the period.

 

China Electronics Fair to be held

Chengdu Weekly, August 30th, 2010

China Electronics Fair, the largest expo for the electronic industry in the country, will be staged Sept. 7-9 at Chengdu New Century International Exhibition and Conference Center in the south of the city. The event for this year will boast an exhibition area of over 11, 000 square meters and over 400 leading companies in the field will attend the fair, said organizer of the event, who also expected that more than 120, 000 visitors would be present at the site during the period. Attending companies to the event will include global leaders such as Digi-Key, Omron, Rohm, Taiyo Yuden, Murata Manufacturing Company, as well as Chinese leading companies, said the organizer. Various forums will also be held during the event, and the world’s distinguished experts will be invited to give lectures on modern technological developments and marketing analysis during the time.

 

Sichuan, Shanghai sign deals in Sichuan products

Chengdu Weekly, August 22nd, 2010

A promotional program for local specialties from Sichuan was staged on Wednesday at the World Expo in Shanghai. The program, organized by Sichuan provincial government, was part of the ongoing Sichuan Pavilion week during the World Expo. Over one thousand products of 11 categories, most of them special products from Sichuan, were displayed at an exhibition that attracted thousands of visitors. Sichuan products, especially tea, liquors, pickles, seasonings, pork and handicrafts works, have long enjoyed popularity among Shanghai people. At the exhibition, the government of Shanghai arranged a meeting of enterprises from Shanghai and Sichuan and the two parties signed agreements worth nearly RMB1 billion on selling Sichuan products on the spot.

 

Chengdu-Guiyang express train Launched

Chengdu Weekly, August 22nd, 2010

The first dispatch of express trains from Chengdu to Gui-yang was launched on Friday to meet the growing demand of passengers traveling between the two cities. Chengdu Railway Administration says that the express train is delivered everyday and travels about 11 hours and 25 minutes to reach its destination.

  

 

Foreign investment in city surges

Chengdu Weekly, August 1st, 2010

Chengdu Investment Promotion Commission said on Thursday the realized foreign investment in Chengdu saw a remarkable jump to be USD2.04 billion in the first half of the year, the largest among cities in western China and a 40.9% increase over last year. In the same period, eight more Global Fortune 500 companies settled in the city, including Metlife, MHI, Huawei, China Resources National and Dong-feng Motor Corporation, making the total number to reach 175.

 

Chengdu “important” in China’s new economic surge: Canada Ambassador

Chengdu Weekly, January 24th, 2010
 
Canada Ambassador to China David Mulroney said Chengdu is “an important city in the new economic surge of China” and stressed Canada and Chengdu will strengthen co-operations for future development.
Mr. Mulroney on Monday attended the ceremony to celebrate the establishment of Chengdu Offi ce of The Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC).
Mr. Mulroney said on Tuesday at an interview with local media that the choice of the establishment in Chengdu is due to the city’s modernized infrastructure, educational and scientific resources and comprehensive competitiveness.
Canadian enterprises have wide-range investments in Chengdu, especially in the fields of finance, aeronautics, education and telecommunications.
The Chengdu Office is one of CCC’s 11 offi ces in China and the sole organization in western China.
Notes:
The Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) is a federal Crown corporation mandated to promote and facilitate international trade on behalf of Canadian industry, particularly within government markets.
 

 

Chengdu plays leading role in West China Development

Chengdu Weekly, January 24th, 2010
 
A report published by the State Information Center in this week cited Chengdu as a leading role for the West China Development Strategy, an example for investment environment improvement and balanced urban-rural development.
The report is result of a long-term study by the State Information Center, supervised by world-famous economist and Nobel Prize winner Robert A. Mundell and China’s leading economist Li Yining.
The report said that the development of Chengdu practice since the implementation of China’s West China Development Strategy in March 2000 sets an example for other cities in China in dealing with issues of urbanization, industrial upgrading, consuming structure, opening policies and the structural contradiction of binary economy between urban and rural areas.
The report thinks highly of Chengdu’s achievements in the industrialization and urbanization process, especially in the aspects of industrial adjustment and the efforts for globalization and informatization.
The report says that Chengdu has pioneered in the country in establishing modern property rights system in rural areas, which is considered key to solving the structural contradiction of binary economy between urban and rural areas; the coordinated measures by the municipal government on city planning, industrial development, market systems, infrastructural development, public service and administrative management have greatly accelerated the balanced urban-rural development and the establishment of a harmonious society.

 

Chengdu Cloud Computing Center starts operation

Chengdu Weekly, January 3rd, 2010
 
Chengdu Cloud Computing Center, the first large-scale Cloud computing center in the Chinese mainland, was launched on Monday in Chengdu Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone.
The center will be used for applications in administrative management, engineering, scientific research, massive computing and commercial purposes.
The system is capable of 200 trillion calculations per second, according to Liu Yong, director of Informa
tization Offi  ce of Chengdu municipal government.
A partnership project with Dawning Information Industry Co., Ltd, the center is the largest cloud computing system in western China and one of the largest in China.

 

Chengdu on the way to be garden city

Chengdu Weekly, December 27th, 2009
 
Local government declared at a conference this week a plan to make Chengdu a world-class garden city in the future.
The government said the plan symbolizes the continuation and intensification of the city’s dedication to promoting integrated development in urban and rural areas and the efforts to make Chengdu the city with the best investment environment, the best living environment and the strongest comprehensive competitiveness in western China.
The plan is also said to be a far-seeing document that coincides with the city’s historical orientation for sustainable development in the era of globalization and caters to local people’s need for a better living environment and a harmonic society.
The government stressed that the city should adopt modern development patterns to promote the hi-tech industry, on the basis of taking energy-saving measures and improving ecological environment, to
fulfi ll the leaping development.
The government said great importance should be attached to a city planning to ensure the balanced development of urban and rural areas, the proper treatment of economic development and ecological environment and the integration of modernization and historical elements.
According to the plan, Chengdu is to be made a world-class metropolitan city, a mega city in western China and a city of an integrated urban-rural development and a harmonious human-nature relationship.
Notes: The Garden city movement is an approach to urban planning that was founded in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom. Garden cities were intended to be planned, self-contained, communities surrounded by greenbelts, containing carefully balanced areas of residences, industry, and agriculture.

 

City hosts Third Online Business Fair

Chengdu Weekly, December 20th, 2009

 The Third Online Business Fair, sponsored by China leading online sales company Alibaba, Sichuan Provincial Department of Commerce and Chengdu Municipal Government, opened in Chengdu on Thursday.
The event boasts an exhibition area of 11,000 sqm for more than 500 companies and is expected to attract tens of thousands of visitors.
 

India, Sichuan strengthen economic ties

Chengdu Weekly, December 20th, 2009
 
China-India Commercial Conference, sponsored by India Trade and Commerce Organization of the Indian Embassy in China, CCPIT Sichuan Council, was held in Chengdu on Tuesday. India sent a delegation, headed by India’s ambassador Dr. S. Jaishankar and including 28 top offi  cials from companies in India, to have talks with the heads from 45 enterprises in Sichuan during the meeting, which marked the beginning of a number of business talks between China and India, part of the celebration for the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relationship between the two countries next year.
Dr. S. Jaishankar said Sichuan plays an important role in the two countries’ economic and cultural cooperation and India has strong intention to push forward cooperative projects in IT and machinery industries between two sides.
He said India will stage a series of programs during the celebration and Chengdu has been chosen as the destination for the conclusion of the celebration.

 

Sri  Lanka Consulate opens in Chengdu

Chengdu Weekly, December 20th, 2009
 
Chengdu celebrated on Tuesday the opening of Sri Lanka Consulate, the eighth consulate settling in the city.
The Sri Lanka Consulate will serve the supervising organization for its operations in the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou and Shaanxi and Chongqing Municipality.

 

Siemens's first global call center ni China to be launched

Chengdu Weekly, December 13th, 2009 

Siemens China announced at a press conference on Tuesday that its first global call center in China, headquartered in Chengdu, was to be put into operation in the first half of next year.

CEO of Siemens Peter Loescher said he held a great expectation of the development of Chengdu’s outsourcing industry and Siemens would increase its investments in the city. The call center, located in the Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone in southern Chengdu, will have a staff of more than 200 professionals upon its operation to provide supportive services for the IT industry. 

 

ISC granted approval to be first international school in Sichuan

Chengdu Weekly, December 6th, 2009

The Ministry of Education issued a document this week to officially designate International Schools of China (ISC) as an institution for the admission to children of foreign nationals and expatriates living in China, making it the first school with the official approval to accept children of foreigners in Sichuan Province.

It is hailed to be a landmark event of Chengdu on the way to becoming an international metropolitan, which sees a growing demand of international-standard education as more world leading companies have settled in the city.

“The school provides globally recognized curricula covering the range from kindergarten to Grade 12,”said Mr. Belcher, headmaster of ISC.

The school, located in Chengdu Hi-tech Industrial Zone (CDHT), currently has a teaching staff of 28 foreign teachers and an enrollment of more than 200 students, mostly from Korea and the US, who use textbooks introduced from the US.

 

High-speed Internet access links Chengdu to World

Chengdu Weekly, December 6, 2009

With the operation of Chengdu International Gateway Data Channel on Dec.1, the city made a substantial achievement on the way to become a hub city of telecommunication in western China, said government offi cials at the launch ceremony of the Channel.

“The operation of this data channel will increase the city’s International bandwidth, which will be a great help to the outsourcing companies in Chengdu,” said Bai Gang, deputy mayor of Chengdu. It is believed that Chengdu’s Internet access speed will be increased by 30 to 50 percent.

 

Shuangliu Airport’ new runway ready for use

Chengdu Weekly, December 6, 2009

Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport will put its secondary runway into operation on Dec. 18, making Chengdu the first city in western China and the fourth in China with an airport to have two runways. The other three cities are Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

The new runway is built to the southeast of the existing runway. With a total investment of RMB12.8 billion, the new runway is capable of landing Airbus A380, the world’s largest civil airplane.

 

Joyo Amazon Opens Fulfillment Centre in Chengdu

November 24, 2009

Joyo Amazon Chengdu FC held its opening ceremony in ProLogis Industrial Park in the west park of Chengdu Hi-Tech Zone. This fulfillment centre is the fourth one set up in China by Joyo Amazon with the previous locations being Beijing, Suzhou and Guangzhou. With an investment of 2 million USD and a construction area of 18,000 m2, the Chengdu FC can store nearly a million pieces of goods, and it will support the distribution to regions include Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou and Shaanxi, directly shortening the delivery period. Mr. Marc Onetto, the Senior VP of Worldwide Operations of Amazon attended the opening ceremony.

 

Wipro Technologies Inaugurates Development Centre in Chengdu

November 26, 2009

Wipro Technologies (Chengdu) Ltd. held its opening ceremony in Tianfu Software Park Phase II in Chengdu Hi-Tech Zone. It is a wholly-foreign-funded subsidiary of Wipro, the third largest software company of India. Its primary businesses include software testing, application software development and other software outsourcing-related services, with HP, GM, Volkswagen, and UBS being its major clients. The company currently hires over 100 staff, and this number is expected to grow to 500 in 2010 and 1500-2000 in 2011. According to informative sources, Wipro is going to integrate its 50 odd research and delivery centres in the world into seven strategic centres, and Chengdu will be one of them. Mr. Sambuddha Deb, the Chief Global Delivery Officer of Wipro Technologies attended the opening ceremony.

 

One-stop service for foreign-invested companies

Chengdu Weekly   Nov.8, 2009

 
The municipal government departments from this month will provide coordinated service for appraisal and approval on the applications by foreign-invested enterprises in Chengdu. All the applications should, by custom, be wound up within five days, said Xue Xiaoming, director of the Standardized Service Office of Chengdu municipal government on Wednesday.

The practice involves a number of functional departments which previously played individual roles in the process while applicants were required to submit documents to the departments one by one.

 

R&D Center boosts Chengdu’s cell phone software industry

 Chengdu Weekly   Nov.8, 2009
 

Europe’s biggest mobile software company Myriad Group announced on Tuesday that it will build a new R&D Center in the city’s Tianfu Software Park. Simon Wilkinson, CEO of Myriad Group, said that the center 70 more technicians will be recruited to strengthen its present team of 150 and make the Chengdu center Myriad’s biggest R&D center in the world. The software developed by the Chengdu R&D Center will be used in GPhone and Nokia cell phones.

Notes: Myriad is the largest mobile software company in Europe and a global leader in mobile technology with software for over 2 billion phones. Its comprehensive portfolio includes browsers, messaging, Java, mobile social networking, user interfaces and middleware for all types of mobile phones, from ultra-low cost handsets to advanced smartphones.

 

Rakon chooses Chengdu as bridgehead for expansion in China

Chengdu Weekly   Nov.8, 2009

 
New Zealand-based Rakon Limited announced on Tuesday that it will begin the construction of a new Chinese manufacturing factory in Chengdu, a cooperation project with its Chinese partner, Shenzhen Timemaker Crystal Technology. With a total investment of USD50 million, the factory will mainly manufacture GPS crystal oscillators for cell phones. Rakon will start within this year the construction of a new facility, which is scheduled to begin operation in 2011.

Notes: Rakon is a world leader in the development of frequency control solutions. It has leading market positions in the supply of crystal oscillators to the GPS, telecommunications network timing, synchronization and aerospace markets. Shenzhen Timemaker Crystal Technology Ltd. is a Sino-American joint venture which produces a board range of quartz crystal components.

 

BOE’s Chengdu plant starts mass production

Chengdu Weekly   Nov.1 , 2009

 

Wang Dongsheng, CEO of BOE

photo by Xie Minggang

BOE Technology Group, one of the largest LCD producers in China, launched mass production at its 4.5-generation TFT-LCD plant in Chengdu on Oct. 25. This is the first TFT-LCD plant to start mass production in western China. With a total investment of RMB3.1 billion and an annual output of 30,000 units, BOE’s Chengdu plant will produce small and medium size LCD panels, which will be used in 12.1’ Laptops, Tablet PCs, Digital Photo Frames, Vehicle LCD Monitors and Mobile Devices.

 

Chengdu selected as China's No. 1 Soft power city

20/07/2009

The 2009 China Cities Soft Power Report was published on the Eastern View magazine. The research was conducted by senior researchers from Fudan University to assess ‘soft power’ of each Chinese city. Among the others, Chengdu was ranked No. 1 in overall soft power strength.

 

Chengdu selected into China's top ten quality cities

02/06/2009

In the 2008 Guidance Report on Life Quality of Chinese Cities released by Sina.com, Chengdu was selected as one of top ten quality cities in China, learnt the journalist on May 16th.

 

Switzerland's biggest hotel management and tourism institute placed a piece in Chengdu

02/06/2009

Since the settlement last month in Chengdu of the first "Accor College" in Asia of Accor Group, France, on May 16th, the "Swedish MRK" College set up jointly by Switzerland's biggest Hotel Management and Tourism College Group and the MRK Hotel Company also chose Chengdu as its settled location, which signifies Chengdu's vocational education is being gradually globalized, and the Sino-western education cooperation will also play an active promotion role in remodeling the city's educational structure.

 

Chinese B2C e-commerce's first southwest logistics center settled in Chengdu

01/06/2009

After the world B2C (Business to Client E-commerce) giant Amazon decided last month to set up in Chengdu its China Clientele Center and Call Center, on May 15th, Dangdang.com, a transnational Chinese language online store, announced the official start-up of the Chengdu-based logistics center - Dangdang Chengdu Warehouse, which is its fourth logistics distribution center in China after Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and is also the first logistics center set up in Southwest China by a domestic B2C e-commerce giant.

 

White Paper of American Companies in China released in Chengdu

31/05/2009

On May 14th, the AmCham-Southwest China held a press conference to communicate certain information contained in the 2009 white paper on American Companies in China released recently, in which Chengdu being a unique representative in Southwest China has a dedicated discussion.

 

Investing 5 billion yuan, Faw-Volkswagen Chengdu base kicked off

27/05/2009

The Chengdu passenger sedan project invested with 5 billion yuan by FAW Group Corporation and Volkswagen Group, on May 8th, was started up ceremoniously in the Chengdu Economic and Technological Development Zone. The Chengdu car project became the single project with the biggest investment and highest technology content in the disaster area after the Sichuan Earthquake.

According to the current capacity planning, the first-phase engineering of the Faw-Volkswagen Chengdu construction project is expected to reach an annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles, and is capable of making 350,000 per year in the future.

 

To build destination city for international conference, seven conference projects secured in Chengdu

26/05/2009

On May 10th, "'Meeting' in Chengdu, Developing Innovatively - the Seminar on Construction of Destination City for International Conference and the Project Cooperative Meeting" were brought to a successful close, with 9 cooperative projects signed triumphantly. The business leaders at the meeting have confirmed to bring the conference projects into Chengdu such as the "International Cultural Creative Masters Going into Chengdu", the "Cold-chain Logistics Forum and Technology and Equipment Exhibition", the "Government Head Forum on Construction of Information Age", the "Academic Conference of Specialty Committee of World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies", the "2010 International Display Equipment Development Forum", the "2009 Brand China Annual Character Selection and Brand China Summit Forum" and the "2009 (Third Edition) China Hotel Trade Marketing Conference", which are to be held accordingly within this year and next year.

 

Chengdu attracted 24 billion yuan of investment from outside Sichuan in first quarter, up 80

22/05/2009

During the first quarter, Chengdu has in total attracted 24.015 billion yuan of investment from outside Sichuan, mainly from the three economic circles of Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and Ring Bohai, increasing 80%, which is 23% higher than the provincial increase rate, learnt the journalist on May 6th from the municipal investment promotion commission. Such sectors in the service industry as logistics, finances and trades whose utilization of domestic investment all grew over 200%, show a robust development momentum.

 

Chengdu as experimental city of "ten cities and ten thousand lights" semiconductor engineering

22/05/2009

Upon the approval of the Ministry of Science and Technology, recently, Chengdu has formally ascended among the national experimental cities for the "ten cities and ten thousand lights" semiconductor engineering, which signifies that Chengdu's R&D and industrialization on semiconductor lighting have made new progress, learnt the journalist on May 8th from the municipal technological bureau. It is reported that in total 21 such cities were newly selected this time including Shanghai, Zhengzhou, Tianjing, Shenzhen and Chengdu.

 

Qionglai and French Glon Group signed strategic agreement

19/05/2009

On April 23rd, Europe's biggest meat processing company - Group Glon of France and Qionglai city formally concluded the strategic cooperative partnership. According to the agreement, the 5 year-time from May 1st of this year to May 5th of 2014 is the first phase of cooperation, and the Group Glon will build in Qionglai a world-leading boar breeding farm and an animal pharmaceutical factory, and in the meanwhile provide for local agricultural companies such technical supports as agro-technical personnel training, renewing of agricultural equipment and building of agricultural technical center, helping local agricultural products meet the international standard.

 

Fifth Session of Sino-Spanish Forum held in Chengdu

18/05/2009

The two-day long Fifth Session of the Sino-Spanish Forum was inaugurated in Chengdu on April 28th. Starting from 2003, the Sino-Spanish Forum is an agreed project by the heads of the two governments, aiming at promoting the Sino-Spanish cooperation and deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership of the two countries, and has been held successfully four times in Beijing, Barcelona, Shanghai and Madrid. This session was co-sponsored by the Chinese Committee of the Sino-Spanish Forum, the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the Sichuan Provincial People's Government and the Chengdu Municipal People's Government, whose theme is the "Sino-Spanish Cooperation, Acting against Challenges".

It is reported that the projects such as Sichuan post-disaster reconstruction and western comprehensive transportation hub and logistic center have attracted Spanish investors, and both sides have signed the Framework Agreement on Silicon Industrial Project of Ganzi Prefecture of Sichuan Province of China with an investment of 820 million euros as well as the Investment Suggestive Agreement Concerning Sichuan Expressway Project of an investment as high as 10.4 billion yuan.

 

Level-upgrading, Sichuan and Zhejiang signed 22 army-civilian scientific cooperation projects

18/05/2009

One side being Sichuan's military scientific research units of outstanding advantages, and the other side the capital-abundant Zhejiang corporations, on April 28th, both sides successfully connected at the Zhejiang-Sichuan Army-civilian Scientific Cooperation Connection Conference, with 22 army-civilian scientific cooperation projects fruitfully signed which involve 300 million yuan for the scientific development cooperation.

 

Carrying capital, New York risk investment looking for projects in Chengdu

11/05/2009

At the New York - Sichuan Investment and Financing Symposiumon held on April 7th, 6 investment organizations from the U.S. brought an exciting news: in considering globally the lesser impact on Chengdu by the financial crisis, a more stable market and huge industrial potential, they will regard Chengdu as a key region for seeking investment projects, and the new energy and new technology will be the fields most likely to be developed cooperatively by both sides.

 

Sichuan published 2009 key project planning, sharply increased by 120.6 billion yuan this year

06/05/2009

The 2009 Key Project Planning of Sichuan Province was published on April 9th. This year, Sichuan has listed 500 key projects, with total investment of 2159.1 billion yuan, and the planned investment in 2009 is 280.5 billion yuan. Compared with the annual investment plan of 159.9 billion yuan of 2008, a total of 120.6 billion yuan was added in this year's Sichuan investment plan, in which 93 continued construction and newly started projects were also added.

 

Fortune Global 500 company DHL to establish business service center in Chengdu

30/04/2009

After Accenture and Amazon, Chengdu welcomed its third investment project from Fortune Global 500 companies this year. On April 2nd, the global logistics giant DHL signed with Chengdu High-tech Zone an investment cooperation agreement, and will establish in the city the solely-owned DHL (Chengdu) Business Service Co., Ltd, and make it a comprehensive service-sharing center combined with such functions as financial shared service, customer service and human resources management in support of DHL's co-invested companies in China.