Global biz leaders praise Jiangsu's robust development environment

On Tuesday, top executives from several multinational companies convened in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, to commend the region's robust development environment, express a strong commitment to deepening partnerships, and explore strategies for enhancing the resilience of industrial chains in the face of global economic uncertainties.

The event drew approximately 700 attendees from both home and abroad, including executives from over 30 companies listed in the 2025 Fortune Global 500 and more than 30 heads of China operations for these global giants.

They participated in the 2025 International Cooperation Conference on Industrial Chain and Supply Chain, and the Lake Tai Entrepreneurs Forum.

Yuan Xiaoming, assistant minister of the Ministry of Commerce, emphasized China's willingness to share the benefits of its vast market, providing essential support for the stable operation of global industrial and supply chains, and offering fertile ground for foreign enterprises to deepen their presence in China.

"Jiangsu boasts rich industrial clusters and a broad market reach, with numerous high-level open platforms," Yuan said. "The Ministry of Commerce will continue to support Jiangsu in advancing high-level openness and high-quality development. We sincerely welcome investors from all other countries to seize the opportunities to invest and start businesses in China, particularly in Jiangsu."

"We aim to be the first multinational company to support the open and innovative development of Jiangsu's entire biopharmaceutical industrial chain," said Jean-Christophe Pointeau, Pfizer Global SVP and president of Pfizer China.

He said that China has become a significant engine for biopharmaceutical innovation, and Pfizer will invest over $1 billion to deepen its involvement in the medical ecosystem.

According to Pointeau, Pfizer's Wuxi plant has been operating successfully for 30 years. The newly launched "Pfizer-Jiangsu Full Industrial Chain Innovation Empowerment Plan" will support research and development technology, expand local production capacity, and invest in local enterprises, helping Jiangsu become a globally influential biopharmaceutical innovation hub.

Iris Cui, vice-president of Asia procurement and operations at Apple, described Jiangsu as a central hub for Apple's supply chain, with over 80 percent of its core global suppliers having factories in China, half of which are based in Jiangsu.

She emphasized Apple's deep collaboration with several top suppliers in Jiangsu, establishing a complete supply chain ecosystem from component R&D to final assembly.

Ji Woong Choi, president of LG Energy Solution China, highlighted Jiangsu as one of the largest overseas production bases for LG Energy Solution China as well as the LG Group, describing it as a "second home" for LG employees. He also emphasized the need to build a critical materials assurance system.

Huzur Devletsah, general manager of Eli Lilly China, said that Eli Lilly established its presence in the Suzhou Industrial Park in 1996 and will celebrate its 30th anniversary in Suzhou next year, having deeply integrated into the local industrial ecosystem.

Over the past decade, Eli Lilly has invested 15 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) in Suzhou, with an additional 1.5 billion yuan invested in 2024.

Jiangsu has a solid foundation and fruitful achievements in industrial cooperation with multinational companies. From 2021 to 2024, Jiangsu's actual use of foreign capital totaled $103.74 billion, with $19.05 billion used in 2024 alone, accounting for 16.4 percent of the national total.

In the first three quarters of 2025, the actual use of foreign capital reached $14.52 billion, increasing its national share to 18.1 percent and maintaining its position as the largest in the country.

cangwei@chinadaily.com.cn