As the second plant of Tianjin FAW Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. was opened recently , Crown 3.0, a focus of attention, successfully rolled off the production line.

 

Mr. Zhang Lichang, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee, pressed the button to roll Crown 3.0 off the production line. Mr. Li Rongrong, Chairman of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, sent a message of congratulation. Mr. Koreshige Anan, Japanese ambassador to China, and Mr. Dai Xianglong, Vice Secretary of the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee and Mayor of Tianjin as well as Mr. Fujio Cho, President of Toyota Motor Corporation, Mr. Zhu Yanfeng, General Manager of FAW, and Takemoto Shozo, General Manager of Tianjin FAW Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. delivered speeches respectively.

 

Tianjin FAW Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. is the largest joint venture for the whole car manufacturing of FAW and Toyota. The design and construction of the newly built modern plant reaches the world¡¯s advanced level. Its major products are the Crown luxury sedans. It is introduced that for the new Crown sedan which has just rolled off the production line with an emission capacity of 3.0 liter, the localization rate of parts and components is 60% and its annual production capacity will reach 150,000.

Led by Mr. Li Dazhuang, Chairman of the China Committee of Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (hereinafter referred to as HKGCC) and made up of entrepreneurs from industrial, commercial, and financial circles of Hong Kong, the HKGCC delegation came to TEDA for a visit and investigation on February 28. Ms. Ren Yan, Deputy Secretary of the Working Committee of TEDA and the Free Trade Zone gave the delegation a warm reception at the Investment Service Center.

 

Ms. Ren Yan introduced to the guests the economic, social, and industrial development of TEDA, expressing her wish for the coming of entrepreneurs from different circles of Hong Kong for more and better knowledge about TEDA so that TEDA could have opportunities for mutual development with them.

 

After that, the delegation asked questions on such issues as related polices on attracting businesses in the service industry, land lease term for factory construction, and preferential policies for financial service industry, and got satisfactory explanations.

 

It is known that, established in 1861 and having approximately 4,000 member organizations, HKGCC is an international commercial organization with the longest history and the largest scale in Hong Kong. It provides its member enterprises with various commercial opportunities and information, and is becoming a more and more important bridge that links Hong Kong, mainland, and global enterprises. The arrival of the delegation was a return visit in response to the investment promotion of Tianjin delegation in Hong Kong in November last year. Visit of the delegation aimed at provide its member enterprises a chance to have better knowledge about TEDA and to create more opportunities for cooperation.

On March 22, the First China Import/Export Factoring and Market Risks Prevention Forum was held in TEDA Investment Service Center. Before the Forum started, Mr. Pi Qiansheng, Member of the Standing Committee of Tianjin Municipal Committee of CPC and Secretary of the Working Committee of TEDA and TJFTZ, accompanied by Mr. Li Yong, Chairman of the Administrative Commission of TEDA, met with the delegation led by Mr. Jan Becher, Secretary General of International Factors Group (IFG).

Mr. Choo Boon Tiong, Director of Asian Group of IFG, presided and addressed the Forum. Mr. Zhang Jun, Vice Chairman of the Administrative Commission of TEDA, delivered a speech. He fully acknowledged the importance and significance of the factoring industry to the development of local economy and import and export trade, expressed the governmental support to the factoring industry. He expressed the idea that the promotion of the factoring industry was a practice totally in line with TEDA¡¯s policy of spurring the growth of local economy by developing financial industry, and looked forward to the further friendly cooperation with international factors.

Sponsored by IFG and Orbrich Financial Guaranty, with the cooperation of National Development and Reform Commission, the People¡¯s Bank of China and the Administrative Commission of TEDA, the Forum was intended for discussing such issues as China¡¯s market risks prevention and establishment of credit system, promoting import and export factoring business, and accelerating the development of Tianjin¡¯s import and export trade and of medium and small sized enterprises

 

 

During March 17-18, the Second International Investment Promotion Forum was grandly unveiled in TEDA. Jointly hosted by the State Ministry of Commerce, the Tianjin Municipal Government, the Federation of Investment Promotion Agencies of China (FIPAC) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Forum is organized by the China International Investment Promotion Agency and the Investment Promotion Center of TEDA.

Focusing on ¡°promoting the next round of foreign direct investment(FDI) growth¡±, participants discussed the following four topics: the development trends and prospects of FDI, new strategies for multinationals¡¯ investment in China, strategies for the overseas investment and transnational operation of Chinese enterprises, and the best operation approach for investment promotion agencies.

At the invitation of the Forum, leaders from the State Ministry of Commerce and Tianjin Municipal Government, senior officials from the UNCTAD, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and other international organizations, principals of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) and other investment promotion agencies home and abroad, world-renowned economists and researchers, and senior executives of multinationals showed up and delivered keynote speeches. Prof. John. H. Dunning, an outstanding economist and the Senior Economic Advisor on World Investment Report of the UNCTAD, Dr. Karl Sauvant, Director of UNCTAD¡¯s Division on Investment, Technology and Enterprise Development and the Editor-in-chief of the World Investment Report as well as other heavyweight insiders made excellent remarks on hot issues such as FDI and world economic development, new trends and prospects of FDI, the investment structure readjustment of multinationals in China, mid-and-long-term investment and localization strategies of multinationals in China, strategies for the overseas investment and transnational operation of Chinese enterprises, and the best operation approach for investment promotion. During the Forum, a round-table seminar entitled ¡°FDI and the Economic Development of China¡± was also held, giving analysis, evaluation and constructive suggestions on FDI and China¡¯s economic development.

United Parcel Service, Inc. is the world¡¯s largest package delivery company and a leading global provider of specialized transportation and logistics services. It has signed with the General Corporation of Microelectronic Industrial Park of TEDA a lease contract for factory buildings of 2,000 square meters to establish an office officially in the Park in order to support such multinational companies as Samsung most directly. The leased factory buildings will be put into use officially in April, 2005 and will definitely promote the investment environment and supporting capabilities of the Park.

It is known that UPS of America is the largest package delivery company and the leader of the global supply chain management. It ranked the 42nd on the list of the top 500 enterprises of the Fortune magazine in 2004, as the number one of the world¡¯s most recognized package delivery companies of 2004. Motorola, Samsung Electronics, Hewlett-Packard, Apple, Hitachi, and Nike etc. are its global customers.

On the morning of Mar. 8, a grand ceremony for the signing of a cooperation agreement between Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area and Tianjin Toyota Motor Engine Co., Ltd. was held in the TEDA Investment Service Center.

Tianjin Toyota Motor Engine Co., Ltd. was founded in 1996. With its plant located in Xiqing District, the company supplies engines to such cars as Golden Charade, Charade N3, VIOS and Corolla. With the rapid development of China¡¯s auto industry and the implementation of Toyota Motor¡¯s strategy in the Chinese market, the company decided to set up its second plant in TEDA to meet the growing market demand. Covering an area of 330,000 square meters, the new plant plans to manufacture 220,000 engines in its first phase.

Tianjin Fushida Group Co., Ltd., a celebrated domestic private enterprise, set up Fushida Electric Bicycle Co., Ltd. in the West Zone of TEDA with 6¨Cmillion-dollar investment. The first phase of the company will occupy 56,000 square meters of land. After launching its production in 2006, the company is expected to attain an annual output between 300,000 and 450,000 and an annual industrial output value of nearly 550 million yuan, with most of its products sold on the domestic market. The company will become the largest R & D and manufacturing center of electric bicycles and bicycles in China.

Tianjin Fushida Group Co., Ltd., a local private enterprise of Tianjin, has achieved rapid growth since its establishment in 1994. Focusing on the production of bicycles and electric bicycles, so far it has developed itself into a large enterprise group owning total assets of 600 million yuan. With its products sold in the U.S., Germany, Austria, South Korea, etc., it has become the largest bicycle producer in China and the world. Tianjin Fushida Electric Bicycle Co., Ltd., its subsidiary company founded in 2003, produced 180,000 electric bicycles and attained an output value of 200 million yuan in 2004, ranking first among its kind in Tianjin