The county-level city of Zhangjiagang, East China's Jiangsu province agrees to deepen cooperation with Hong Kong's Xinyi Group. [Photo/Official WeChat account: zjgcitynews]

Hong Kong-based Xinyi Group invested $800 million into the Yangtze Metallurgical Industrial Park in the county-level city of Zhangjiagang, East China's Jiangsu province, and later upped that number to $1.66 billion, according to a signing ceremony held in the city on July 11.

Xinyi Group, with total market value of more than $15.48 billion, was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2005. The group's Xinyi Solar subsidiary is the world's leading manufacturer of solar glass, with a 30 percent market share in the industry.

Pan Guoqiang, Party secretary of Zhangjiagang, addressed the ceremony, saying that the city will further deepen cooperation with the group.

Pan stressed that the COVID-19 epidemic has created short-term pressure on the city's economy. The local government has stepped up efforts to stabilize the economy and released a series of favourable policies to attract investment.

The newly-opened Shanghai-Suzhou-Nantong Railway will not only greatly improve traffic efficiency in Zhangjiagang, but also help the city better integrate into the Yangtze River Delta region, turning it into a gathering ground for global enterprises, Pan added.