Investment News

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.