It's Happening....
Ningbo to chase investments by Fortune 500 enterprises
- Details
- Category: Ningbo Business
- Published: Tuesday, 01 April 2014 13:30
Unilever, the world's second largest consumer goods producer, signed in Shanghai a share trade agreement with the Qinyuan Group in the early March, claiming to purchase 55% of the company's shares with a total investment of 1.822 billion yuan. It then becomes the 43rd Fortune 500 enterprises to invest in Ningbo. The latest statistics from Ningbo Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau show that the 43 Fortune 500 enterprises have invested US$10.44 billion in 105 projects in Ningbo, with the contractual investment standing at US$4.25 billion and the realized investment, US$3.08 billion.
As the major force for the internationalization of the Ningbo city, foreign investment, especially the quality investment from the Fortune 500 enterprises, has always been an important engine to promote the development of the city as a modern international port. Since the introduction of the first project invested by a Fortune 500 enterprise in 1989, Ningbo has become an ideal destination for the investments from such multinational giants as Itochu, Mitsubishi, DuPont, Maersk, Metro and Volkswagen. Over the past 30 odd years, those investors have brought about new management patterns, technologies and concepts besides the substantial capitals.
The cooperation with international tycoons has become a highlight for the transformation and development of the private enterprises in Ningbo. In 2012, Ningbo Vision Auto Parts Co. Ltd., an affiliate of Geely Group, set up in Ningbo Economic and Technological Development Zone the Faurecia Emission Control Technology (Ningbo) Co. Ltd., in cooperation with the Faurecia Group, a Fortune 500 enterprise from France. In the same year, Ningbo Beidou Technology Co. Ltd., located in Cixi Economic and Technological Development Zone, started its cooperation with the Bosch Group, the largest automobile technologies supplier in the world, in the field of micro-motor manufacturing with a total investment of over US100 million.
The 43 Fortune 500 enterprises are mainly from Japan, South Korea, the United States, Europe, Hong Kong and Taiwan, including 10 from Japan, 9 from the United States, 7 from Germany, 4 from the United Kingdom, 4 from France, 4 from South Korea and 3 from Holland. The total investment, contractual capital and realized capital stand respectively at US$99.43 million, US$40.48 million and US$29.33 million. The industrial cluster zones (especially the state-level ones) are most popular with the enterprises. For instance, Ningbo Economic and Technological Development Zone has 44 projects invested by Fortune 500 enterprises, and Hangzhou Bay New Zone has attracted 11 such enterprises. In addition to the traditional manufacturing industry, the Fortune 500 enterprises are stepping into such modern service fields as comprehensive hospitals, large supermarkets, construction material wholesale industry and automobile sales.
This year, Ningbo will make efforts to promote the scale and quality of foreign investments by taking advantage of the "docking fair for Zhejiang enterprises with the Fortune 500 enterprises" to be held in June. According to Chai Lida, Deputy Director of Ningbo Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bueau, Ningbo will endeavor to introduce three more projects in cooperation with the Fortune 500 enterprises and three more projects with an investment of over 5 billion yuan, and to speed up the foreign investment introduction in such fields as tourism, aviation, automobile and urbanization.
