Foreign enterprises are ramping up investment in China's Yangtze River Delta, reaffirming their long-term confidence in the growth potential of China despite the economic fallout from the coronavirus epidemic.
Multinational companies will not change their global strategies just because of short-term factors like the coronavirus outbreak, according to Zhong Yan, a researcher with the Shanghai Institute for East Asian Studies.
SHANGHAI, March 25 -- In the Yangtze River Delta, one of China's most economically vibrant regions, foreign enterprises are ramping up investment, as the world's manufacturing hub gradually recovers from the novel coronavirus epidemic and goes all out to restore economic activities.
U.S. materials science firm Dow on Monday announced its plan to invest 300 million U.S. dollars over the next five years in its manufacturing site in Zhangjiagang, east China's Jiangsu Province.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony between Zhangjiagang Free Trade Zone Administrative Committee and Dow Chemical (China) Investment Company Limited in Zhangjiagang, east China's Jiangsu Province, March 23, 2020. (Xinhua)
About 100 km away from Zhangjiagang, Starbucks announced in mid-March its largest manufacturing investment outside the United States -- building a coffee innovation park in the city of Kunshan, with an initial investment of 130 million U.S. dollars.
Other foreign investments springing up recently in the region include retail giant Costco's planned second store in Shanghai and U.S. agribusiness leader Cargill's investment in the neighboring province of Zhejiang.
These investments reflect foreign companies' long-term confidence in the growth potential of China despite the economic fallout from the coronavirus epidemic, experts said.
EXPANDING MARKET
"Although the world is still facing arduous epidemic prevention and control work, foreign investors see no decline in their enthusiasm for the Yangtze River Delta," said Zhong Yan, a researcher with the Shanghai Institute for East Asian Studies.
Covering a 358,000-square km expanse, the Yangtze River Delta, consisting of Shanghai and the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, is one of the most populated and urbanized city clusters in China, contributing one-fourth of the country's gross domestic product.
Zhong attributed the ardor of foreign investment, ranging from the industries of chemicals, food, health care, to consumer goods and modern services, to China's expanding and upgrading market demand.
Dow's expanding manufacturing site in Zhangjiagang is seen as a key step for its development in the delta region and beyond, considering China's growing market and the wide application of differentiated silicone products in key industries, such as mobility and transportation, building and infrastructure, electronics, and home and personal care.
