VI. Open Economy

Foreign trade rose despite all the difficulties. Changzhou’s exports in 2015 stood at 131.92 billion RMB, up by 0.5% over 2014. Exports to countries and regions alongside the Silk Road Economic Belt and Maritime Silk Road maintained a good momentum. For instance, exports to India, ASEAN and Middle East climbed to 870 million, 2.73 billion and 1.07 billion RMB, up by 27.6%, 12.3% and 5% respectively. And hi-tech exports grew by 9.7% to 21.74 billion RMB. Machinery and electronics exports took up 54.1% of the city’s total export value, up by 1.6%. The total value of imports and exports of services in 2015 stood at 8 billion RMB, up by 5.1% over 2014. Exports of general trade increased by 0.5% to 97.9 billion RMB.

Breakthroughs were made in foreign investment. In 2015, 2.49 billion US dollars of foreign investment was actually utilized and 16 projects were signed, each with an agreed investment of above 30 million US dollars. Among these 16 projects, the AAC Technologies project was worth over 1 billion US dollars, and the Boston Lithium Battery project, the United PV project and the Shunfeng PV project had an investment of over 500 million US dollars each. Besides, 5 new projects and 2 capital-increase projects were invested by Global Fortune 500 companies throughout the year, making a record high in recent years.

International cooperation was strengthened. In 2015, 67 new outbound investment projects were recorded with a total agreed investment of 755 million US dollars from local enterprises, up by 61.7% over 2014. Among these projects, 12 were connected to the � One Belt and One Road� initiative with an agreed investment of 360 million US dollars, accounting for 47.8% of the total. Service outsource contracts worth of 380 million US dollars were signed and those worth of 320 million US dollars were executed, up by 21.5% and 17.7% respectively.

Local development zones were upgraded. In 2015, development zones across Changzhou registered a general public budgetary revenue of 29.97 billion RMB and made an industrial investment of 132.38 billion RMB as well as an infrastructure investment of 29.74 billion RMB. Besides, these development zones utilized a total foreign capital of 2.25 billion US dollars and secured an agreed registered foreign capital of 2.36 billion RMB. Moreover, the Changzhou West Taihu Lake Science and Technology Industrial Zone was given a go-ahead to build itself into a provincial hi-tech zone. The Changzhou National Hi-tech District, Wujin National Hi-tech Industrial Zone and Wujin Economic Zone were all designated as national eco-friendly model zones. In addition, international cooperation parks like China-Israel ( Changzhou ) Innovation Park and Sino-German Innovation Park maintained a rapid growth.

International exchanges were deepened. Changzhou received 197 foreign delegations of 1025 foreign guests throughout 2015. Among them were 28 groups of 161 embassy and consulate officials, 38 delegations of 215 persons from the city’s international sister cities, and 4 groups of 8 foreign journalists. Two more cities were added to Changzhou’s international sister city list in 2015, namely, La Serena of Chile and Curitiba of Brazil.