China is accelerating construction of major foreign-invested projects, with 13 new ventures worth more than 13.4 billion U.S. dollars launched by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) as part of a drive to attract global capital.
The new ventures focus on manufacturing, spanning electronics, chemicals, automobiles and electrical machinery, while also extending support to services such as logistics and biomedicine to spur integration with advanced industries. Spread across Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Guangdong, many of the projects are already under construction. Construction on Roche Diagnostics' new facility in Suzhou Industrial Park has reached about 30 percent of planned work, with core structural elements already in place. Garret Nolan, who heads Roche Diagnostics Suzhou, said the 3-billion-yuan project (436 million U.S. dollars) is on track to start operations in 2028. Building on its diagnostic reagent business, the Suzhou facility will introduce high‑end instruments and equipment while advancing localized research, development and production of key products.
"The evolving needs in the Chinese market as well as here in Asia Pacific were driving the necessity for us to further continue our investment. In terms of the broadening of scope, we will produce now and in future, many more instruments and reagents here, but we also extend our R and D facility. So we basically needed more space to be able to facilitate all of that extra growth and our aspirations," he said.
To ensure the smooth progress of major foreign-invested projects, local authorities have established an interdepartmental task force.
Through policy innovation and efficient services, the task force provides targeted support throughout the entire process from registration and approval to construction.
"Moving forward, we will use institutional innovation in the free trade zone as a starting point to carry out comprehensive experiments for openness and innovation, pursuing innovation across the entire bio-medicine industrial chain. We will work to ensure that projects are implemented and put into operation as soon as possible, guaranteeing their efficient and high-quality operation," said Liu Hua, deputy secretary of the Party Working Committee and deputy director of the Administrative Committee of Suzhou Industrial Park, home to the Suzhou Free Trade Zone.
Foreign-invested projects worth over 13 billion US dollars take shape across China
