An aerial view of Wuxi. [Photo/Wuxi Daily]
Wuxi in East China's Jiangsu province has been striving to open up its market to the world over the past 10 years.
The city's trading partners currently spread over 220 countries and regions, and in 2021 its foreign trade totaled $105.7 billion, 1.5 times the figure 10 years ago.
From 2012 to 2021, the actual utilization of foreign capital in Wuxi amounted to $35.53 billion, and the city brought in 240 projects with investment of over $100 million each.
A busy port in Wuxi. [Photo/Wuxi Daily]
Wuxi is presently home to 7,200 foreign-invested enterprises, 218 of which were set up by Global Fortune 500 companies.
The city also invested in 1,157 projects in 92 countries and regions with a combined contractual investment of $13.93 billion from the city's enterprises during the same period.
Jiangsu Phoenix Art Materials Technology Co Ltd, a Wuxi-based professional art material supplier, has established a presence in overseas markets in recent years, said Chen Weihong, president of the enterprise.
Chen noted that the overseas factories focus on production and the purchase of raw materials, while domestic operations are focused on developing products and expanding markets, boosting the company's annual sales to the United States from $4.7 million to $60 million.
The president added that China was once the world's factory, but now Chinese factories can be found around the world.
The Cambodian Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone is founded and constructed mainly by Hodo Group. [Photo/Wuxi Daily]
Hodo Group, a Wuxi-based textile and garment giant, has also benefited from going global.
In the first half of this year, the group's export contracts were valued at over $200 million yuan, up 70 percent year-on-year; the overseas production base of Hodo's subsidiary company General Tire saw its monthly sales revenue exceed $30 million yuan this year; the foreign trade of enterprises in the Cambodian Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone, led by Hodo Group, was valued at nearly $1.75 billion from January to August, an increase of 27.39 percent year-on-year.
