A visiting journalist speaks highly of Taicang's business environment. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Taicang, a city in East China's Jiangsu province, attracted about $299 million in foreign investment last month, up 8,251 percent year on year, according to the municipal government on Oct 23.

The city brought in seven foreign-invested enterprises with newly registered capital exceeding $102 million, up 40 percent and 3,046 percent, respectively.

Five of the new projects are focused on R&D in fields such as intelligent robots and solar energy, which local authorities said would help optimize Taicang's industrial structure.

Taicang is currently home to 909 enterprises in secondary industries and 493 in tertiary industries. The port city has developed into a hub of Sino-German business cooperation, with a GDP of 132.49 billion yuan ($19.69 billion) by the end of 2019.

A German Center opened in Taicang in June, providing global support for traders looking to set up operations in prosperous areas.

Amidst a global economic slowdown, the municipal government has strengthened financial support for foreign-invested enterprises, and in September, four such enterprises received about $120 million in loans and investment.

"The quality of services, especially from the Taicang government, is more than good," said Matthias Mueller, the managing director of the German Center in Taicang.