County-level city in Jiangsu province embraces the 500th such firm

Taicang in East China's Jiangsu province has been emerging as one of the prime areas for German business investment in China as Beumer Group became the 500th German company to invest there earlier this month.

Beumer Group's logistics-related project is expected to generate an annual output value of up to 1.4 billion yuan ($194.5 million) after reaching full production.

Wang Xiangyuan, Party secretary of Taicang, said the city has long been dedicated to fostering global exchanges and cooperation, particularly in its enduring partnership with Germany over the past three decades.

"This has positioned Taicang as one of the areas with the highest concentration of Sino-German enterprises and the most favorable development prospects in China," said Wang at a ceremony marking the 500th German company to invest in Taicang, which was held in Germany in late January.

As a leading global manufacturer of internal logistics systems, Beumer Group produces versatile products that align well with Taicang's logistics and trade sector, which has achieved a scale of hundreds of billions of yuan, Wang added.

"The city fully supports Beumer's development in Taicang and is dedicated to meticulously providing high-quality living, medical, and educational facilities for the company's employees," Wang said.

Eva Huang, CFO of Beumer Asia and China, said that upon learning of the company's intention to relocate its Shanghai office, the Taicang government initiated discussions with Beumer Shanghai's management at the end of 2020, maintaining close communication despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

Huang said that following the optimization of the control measures, the leadership of Taicang personally visited Beumer's headquarters in Germany to facilitate the project's implementation.

"Compared to other areas, Taicang is more attractive and has been known as a 'home for German enterprises', making it one of the most investment-worthy and development-oriented areas in the Yangtze River Delta. Hundreds of German companies have established themselves here. Statistics show that over the past 30 years, over 90 percent of German companies in Taicang have increased their investments or expanded their production."

The professional, efficient and swift response of the Taicang team, under the leadership of Party secretary Wang, from the initial contact to the finalization of the project, was also cited by her as an important reason for the decision to settle in Taicang.

"From setting up the investment entity to obtaining the construction permit, Beumer allocated only three months," Huang said. "Various departments, including the investment promotion bureau of Taicang High-Tech Industrial Development Zone, its China-Germany cooperation office, and the economic and development bureau cooperated closely with the Beumer team. They provided dedicated personnel to track and guide the Beumer project, while refining and optimizing the application processes at each stage, maximizing support for the project," said Huang.

"We anticipate that with our new investment and setup, we will achieve stable and long-term growth in Taicang."

In a span of 14 years, the first 100 German enterprises arrived in Taicang. However, it took only about two years for the arrival of the most recent 100 German enterprises to settle in the city.

Over the past 30 years, Taicang has continuously enhanced collaboration with Germany across economic, cultural, educational and sporting domains.

Wang said that Taicang is committed to providing top-quality services and creating a premier business environment that is market-oriented, adheres to the rule of law and is internationalized.