Since China began its reform and opening up 30 years ago, the city of Kunshan has emerged as a major industrial and commercial city. During the 1980s, Kunshan took every opportunity to develop the a strong manufacturing industry, and succeeded: over 3600 foreign enterprises moved into Kunshan.

Kunshan’s strong manufacturing development helped lay a solid foundation for the city to develop into a major service outsourcing center. Huaqiao is adjacent to Shanghai, within the Shanghai peninsula, and so has a unique geographic advantage. Immediately after Shanghai positioned itself as an international financial center, Kunshan has assigned the Huaqiao district the job of developing a BOP industry to support Shanghai.

Huaqiao also has excellent transportation advantages. The Shanghai Transit Line will be extended to Huaqiao and the Shanghai-Nanjing Intercity Railway and the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway will both run through Huaqiao.

As the country’s first modern service-oriented development zone, Huaqiao has also received a lot of attention from the central leadership during its development and construction. The strong support Huaqiao has received from ministries and the provincial government has created excellent conditions for its future development.

In order to attract entrepreneurs, Huaqiao has also offered strong policy support, provided quality services to enterprises, and created a livable ecological environment.

Older manufacturing enterprises, especially those that pollute, have been ordered by the government to move out. To replace them, dozens of major BPO enterprises have been invited to move in, including China Data Group, Capgmini and Tangram Customer Interaction Center.

By Xie Fang