Home » City specials » Chengdu
Global businesses go west for new growth
By Ye Zhen |
March 26, 2013, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
EDITOR'S note:
Chengdu, capital of China's southwestern Sichuan Province, is a city going places. In June it will host the prestigious Fortune Global Forum, acknowledgement of Chengdu's growing reputation as a major business center. Much of this success can be attributed to the city's dynamic "can-do" attitude, helping create an environment where industry can prosper and where leading multinationals are choosing to set up headquarters. .
The southwestern metropolis of Chengdu, famous for its spicy cuisine and nearby panda sanctuaries, is attracting increasing attention from global businesses that want to participate in China's campaign to shift development focus westward.
Chengdu's economy has maintained double-digit growth for 20 consecutive years. The city's gross domestic product expanded 13 percent year on year to 813.89 billion yuan (US$131 billion) last year, far outpacing the national rate of 7.8 percent.
In fact, Chengdu was the only inland city in China to rank among the top 10 Asia-Pacific "strategic" cities for direct foreign investment in 2011-12 ranking, according to the fDi magazine published by the Financial Times Group.
The capital of Sichuan Province is already home to 233 Fortune Global 500 companies, outranking any other city in central and western China, according to the Sichuan Provincial Department of Commerce.
To attract more investment, the municipal government hosted December investment fairs in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen to sell itself as a great place to do business and a great place to live. In Shanghai alone, deals valued at 12.4 billion yuan were signed with 17 companies.
"Chengdu is a very important city in our company's network in China," said Rick Chen, senior vice president of Global Logistics Properties, one of the world's leading providers of modern logistics facilities. "Chengdu is playing the same crucial role as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou as industrial activity in China migrates from coastal to inland cities."
The company's GLP Park Chengdu High-Tech operates logistics services and warehouse facilities from its base in the Chengdu High-Tech Industrial Development Zone, one of the biggest industrial parks in western China.
New investment
"We will keep investing in at least two parks in Chengdu every year because the city's logistics demand will keep growing with the growth of domestic consumption and industrial migration," said Chen.
For its part, the Chengdu government has stepped up efforts to improve the city's transportation infrastructure, pouring new investment into airports, railways and highways.
That will help the growth of foreign logistics companies in the city, including UPS, FedEx, TNT and DHL and domestic competitors like Cosco, CSCL and Sinotrans.
In a development plan released in November, the Chengdu government set a target of 15 percent annual growth in the logistics industry in the five years ending in 2015. By 2015, the industry is expected to account for 8 percent of the city's economic growth.
Chengdu is also an investment target for automobile manufacturers.
The Chengdu Economic and Technological Development Zone is home to 17 carmakers, including FAW-Volkswagen, FAW-Toyota, Volvo and Geely.
When 2012 figures are released, vehicle production is expected to show a 143 percent surge to 370,000 units. Car sales are expected to have risen two-thirds to 108 billion yuan.
Where cars are built, parts and other vehicle-related suppliers follow.
Harman International Industries Inc, a global provider of in-vehicle information and entertainment systems and audio products, opened a research and development center in Chengdu last year - its second-largest one in China after Shanghai.
"Locating a R&D center in Chengdu is a convenient way for our company to communicate with clients because so many multinational and local auto manufacturers have settled in the city," said David Jin, chairman and president of Harman's Northeast Asia and China operations. "By staying closer to our customers, we can provide the most-need, innovative and high-quality products and services."
Jin said his company's decision to invest in the city was based, in part, by Chengdu's talent pool, which is fed by a cluster of universities and research institutions, including Sichuan University, the University of Electronic Science and Technology and Southwest Jiaotong University.
Harman's Chengdu R&D center currently employs about 100 professionals, and 90 percent of them are locals.
The company said it plans to expand the Chengdu center and recruit more than 300 research staff to develop products and services for customers globally.
Chengdu, capital of China's southwestern Sichuan Province, is a city going places. In June it will host the prestigious Fortune Global Forum, acknowledgement of Chengdu's growing reputation as a major business center. Much of this success can be attributed to the city's dynamic "can-do" attitude, helping create an environment where industry can prosper and where leading multinationals are choosing to set up headquarters. .
The southwestern metropolis of Chengdu, famous for its spicy cuisine and nearby panda sanctuaries, is attracting increasing attention from global businesses that want to participate in China's campaign to shift development focus westward.
Chengdu's economy has maintained double-digit growth for 20 consecutive years. The city's gross domestic product expanded 13 percent year on year to 813.89 billion yuan (US$131 billion) last year, far outpacing the national rate of 7.8 percent.
In fact, Chengdu was the only inland city in China to rank among the top 10 Asia-Pacific "strategic" cities for direct foreign investment in 2011-12 ranking, according to the fDi magazine published by the Financial Times Group.
The capital of Sichuan Province is already home to 233 Fortune Global 500 companies, outranking any other city in central and western China, according to the Sichuan Provincial Department of Commerce.
To attract more investment, the municipal government hosted December investment fairs in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen to sell itself as a great place to do business and a great place to live. In Shanghai alone, deals valued at 12.4 billion yuan were signed with 17 companies.
"Chengdu is a very important city in our company's network in China," said Rick Chen, senior vice president of Global Logistics Properties, one of the world's leading providers of modern logistics facilities. "Chengdu is playing the same crucial role as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou as industrial activity in China migrates from coastal to inland cities."
The company's GLP Park Chengdu High-Tech operates logistics services and warehouse facilities from its base in the Chengdu High-Tech Industrial Development Zone, one of the biggest industrial parks in western China.
New investment
"We will keep investing in at least two parks in Chengdu every year because the city's logistics demand will keep growing with the growth of domestic consumption and industrial migration," said Chen.
For its part, the Chengdu government has stepped up efforts to improve the city's transportation infrastructure, pouring new investment into airports, railways and highways.
That will help the growth of foreign logistics companies in the city, including UPS, FedEx, TNT and DHL and domestic competitors like Cosco, CSCL and Sinotrans.
In a development plan released in November, the Chengdu government set a target of 15 percent annual growth in the logistics industry in the five years ending in 2015. By 2015, the industry is expected to account for 8 percent of the city's economic growth.
Chengdu is also an investment target for automobile manufacturers.
The Chengdu Economic and Technological Development Zone is home to 17 carmakers, including FAW-Volkswagen, FAW-Toyota, Volvo and Geely.
When 2012 figures are released, vehicle production is expected to show a 143 percent surge to 370,000 units. Car sales are expected to have risen two-thirds to 108 billion yuan.
Where cars are built, parts and other vehicle-related suppliers follow.
Harman International Industries Inc, a global provider of in-vehicle information and entertainment systems and audio products, opened a research and development center in Chengdu last year - its second-largest one in China after Shanghai.
"Locating a R&D center in Chengdu is a convenient way for our company to communicate with clients because so many multinational and local auto manufacturers have settled in the city," said David Jin, chairman and president of Harman's Northeast Asia and China operations. "By staying closer to our customers, we can provide the most-need, innovative and high-quality products and services."
Jin said his company's decision to invest in the city was based, in part, by Chengdu's talent pool, which is fed by a cluster of universities and research institutions, including Sichuan University, the University of Electronic Science and Technology and Southwest Jiaotong University.
Harman's Chengdu R&D center currently employs about 100 professionals, and 90 percent of them are locals.
The company said it plans to expand the Chengdu center and recruit more than 300 research staff to develop products and services for customers globally.
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