A German-style business area in Taicang, a county-level city in East China's Jiangsu province. [Photo/WeChat account: tcfbgw] 

Taicang, a county-level city in East China's Jiangsu province, saw $2.36 billion in foreign capital registration in 2022, while the actual use of foreign capital was $598 million, according to official statistics. 

Specifically, 183 foreign-funded projects were set up in the city in 2022, 120 of which were funded by foreign small and medium-sized enterprises, accounting for 65 percent of the total. 

One of the largest contributors of this increase were Taicang's German enterprises. Dubbed "the hometown of German enterprises", Taicang is currently home to more than 470 German companies, more than 90 percent of which added investment and expanded production capacity due to the city's geographical location, business environment, and industrial chains. 

In recent years, Taicang has made significant progress in the high-end equipment manufacturing, key automobile spare parts, and aerospace industries, with its industrial output value exceeding 60 billion yuan ($8.85 billion) in 2022. 

The city has also established a complete automobile industrial chain, with the city boasting automobile spare parts suppliers able to produce 70 percent of the parts found in a complete vehicle. 

In addition, Taicang's cooperation with Germany has expanded to fields like culture, education, healthcare, and sports. 

The dual education system and the introduction of a series of "German elements", such as the Bayern Munich soccer school, Maritim Hotel, Beethoven Cafe, as well as the Sino-German cross-border e-commerce center, have increasingly attracted more Germans to the city.