Wuxi looks to further open up

Wuxi saw sustained growth in foreign investment and economic cooperation over the past year, with the amount of outbound direct investment hitting a record high.

The number topped $1.7 billion last year, ranking first in East China's Jiangsu province. Among the total, 20 key ODI projects, each worth more than $10 million, have been registered with local authorities.

In the work report of the local government this year, the goal of advancing the construction of an open and strong city and implementing the "Deep Cultivation Plan" for friendly exchange with foreign countries was proposed once more.

Chen Minghui, director of the local foreign affairs office, said that Wuxi has been focusing on international exchange and cooperation with industrial powerhouses such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Germany, Britain, and the United States. The city now plans to explore more cooperation with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative and EU members.

The "Deep Cultivation Plan" will build an "X+2+2" system for partner countries, with each city, county, and district building up friendly relationships with a number of industrial powerful countries, two or more innovative characteristic countries, and two or more BRI countries.

According to the plan, Wuxi will organize an overseas connections group to look for more resources for cooperation. A new batch of Sino-foreign cooperation platforms will also be built for technological research and development, technology transformation, and innovation incubation, aiming to explore further opening up with industrial exchange and cooperation.