Mayor of Nantong Wu Xinming meets with Allan Gabor, president of Merck China, on Sept 15. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

Wu Xinming, mayor of Nantong in East China's Jiangsu province, met with Allan Gabor, president of Merck China, on Sept 15 to discuss further cooperation.

Wu thanked Merck Group, a leading German science and technology company, for its contributions to Nantong's economic and social development.

He said that with a number of major transport facilities being put into service or under construction, Nantong now boasts more convenient and closer contact with southern Jiangsu and Shanghai, creating more opportunities for Nantong enterprises.

The city's competitive industries, including biological medicine, medical devices, and electronic information, are closely related to Merck, noted Wu.

The mayor expressed hope that Merck will regard Nantong as an important base for its development in China by furthering cooperation and increasing investments.

He pledged that Nantong authorities will create a more efficient and favorable business environment to boost Merck's development.

Gabor thanked Nantong authorities for their support, saying that the reason why Merck chose Nantong in 2014 was its good location, favorable business climate, and efficient services.

He noted that Merck is optimistic about its development in the city and plans to expand the production capacity of its Nantong base and bring new products to the base.

Merck Group has built three subsidiaries in Nantong so far. The group's Nantong base has become its second largest pharmaceutical production center and generated more than 2.1 billion yuan ($299.35 million) in output last year.