A trade delegation from Wuxi, led by Mayor Wang Quan, has returned from a trip to Japan, having netted a whopping 7.76 billion yuan ($1.19 billion) in investment, covering seven major projects, Wuxi Daily reported.
During the visit which took place from May 10 to 12, the delegation participated in the Jiangsu & Japan economic and trade cooperation conference organized by the provincial government. It had talks with the leaders of Mizuho Bank and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and had in-depth exchanges with the many Japanese companies which have invested in Wuxi such as Japan Aviation Electronics Industry Ltd, THK Co., Ltd., Yakult, Mitsubishi Chemical and Konica Minolta.
Wuxi appears to be a magnet for Japanese investment, as more than 1,300 Japanese companies have settled in the city, accumulating a total investment exceeding $13.68 billion. Japan is also Wuxi’s largest trading partner, with the total amount of Wuxi import and export trade with Japan in 2015 amounting to $9.04 billion.
In an effort to increase cooperation and drum up more business for the city, the Wuxi delegation paid visits to several big name Japanese firms, including Ricoh Corporation, Alpine Electrical Co., Ltd., and Shin Etsu Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.
Ricoh is a famous Japanese office equipment and optical machine manufacturer, and one of the world's top 500 enterprises. In 2006, Ricoh Group invested in Wuxi National Hi-tech District (WND) and established Ricoh Thermal Technology Company. The Ricoh Group will add a further $90 million of investment to introduce a whole new set of production line of thermal products at its WND base, in order to double production capacity.
Alpine Electric Co., Ltd. is one of the world's largest groups in research and development, production and marketing of electronic components and audio products. In as early as 1995, Alpine set up a wholly-owned company at the Wuxi Singapore Industrial Park, and in 2014 it set up an R&D center.
During the visit, the delegation and Alpine's president Kataoka Masataka, as well as other leaders of the company discussed matters concerned with importing advanced sensors to its Wuxi plant and other electronic production issues. The company’s sensors are mainly used in the Apple iPhone.
Shin Etsu Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., is one of the largest suppliers of high-tech raw materials such as semiconductor silicon and PVC in the world. In 2010, Shin Etsu Chemical, the Dutch THK Group and Jiangyin-based Fasten Group established a joint venture in Wuxi, called Shin Etsu (Jiangsu) Light Co., Ltd. During the meeting, Shin Etsu Chemical said it would invest $100 million in its Wuxi operation in order to meet the domestic market’s strong demand for optical fiber preforms.
The delegation also attended the celebration of "the 35th anniversary ceremony of friendship and cooperation of Wuxi-Akashi". Akashi is Wuxi's first international friendship city, and the two shares close ties in cultural, economic and trade exchanges.
