Kunshan City in Jiangsu Province approved 306 foreign-funded new projects in the first half of this year, bringing in a total of US$2.68 billion in contracted foreign capital -- an increase of 51.7 percent year-on-year, according to city government sources.

Among the contracted foreign capital, US$615 million has been channeled to Kunshan, 16.4 percent higher than in the same period last year.

Good local policies and a good service environment are regarded as key in helping turn Kunshan into a "paradise'' for foreign investors.

The city has established three service systems to help overseas investors follow offical project authorization procedures to provide efficient, all-round support for the construction of new projects, including project management and production.

Kunshan's Association of Foreign-funded Enterprises -- the Foreign Businessmen Salon -- held once every two months, and the Association for Enterprises with Taiwan investments have served as a good bridge linking foreign business people with local government sectors.

The city has also set up three centers to hear complaints from overseas investors and facilitate local business cooperation.

Building an ideal investment environment has inspired 24 of the world's top 500 enterprises to open business in Kunshan. Among the foreign-funded enterprises, 24 are large-scale projects with single investments exceeding US$100 million, according to local official statistics.

The introduction of online project bidding and bidding through agents and intermediaries this year also added investments to Kunshan.

The new-style bidding has attracted 67 projects from Japan, South Korea, the United States and European countries so far this year, with the total contracted overseas investment reaching US$570 million.

A higher return for foreign investors is also a big factor for luring new overseas investments to Kunshan. In the first half of this year the city's import and export value hit US$5.44 billion and the export volume reached US$2.72 billion, up 51 and 46.5 percent respectively.

Many foreign-funded enterprises in Kunshan have decided to expand their business in Kunshan. A total of 13 foreign enterprises in Yushan Town , for instance, have completed the procedures required to add more funds to their projects in Kunshan.

Dingxin Electronics Co Ltd and Weimeng Electronics Co Ltd have contributed US$84 million and US$60 million in new investments respectively in Kunshan this year.

(By Ma Zhiping)

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