Your Honorable MR. Hawke
Friends, ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning.
I am very happy to be here today to participate in the 2006 International Cooperation Summit for Asia-Pacific CEOs and Provincial Governors and Mayors. On behalf of Jiangsu Province People’s Government, I’d like to express my earnest welcome to you, especially to those friends who came from far away.
The theme of this summit is promoting the prosperity of Asia-Pacific region on the basis of innovation, which can be well-interpreted by the development of Jiangsu. After the rapid development in the past 20 years, the economic and social development of Jiangsu has entered into a new phase, which is symbolized by the fact that the per capita GDP has exceeded 3000 USD. And now we are facing a new period of transformation when innovation is becoming a key factor of development.
In the progress of achieving this historical transformation, Jiangsu has many comparative advantages. The industrial manufacturing scale of Jiangsu is comparatively large; the enterprises of Jiangsu have a strong sense and ability of technology in innovation and internationalization. Second we possess a good scientific and educational advantage. The institutions of scientific research and development, the capability of scientific professionals and scientific results are in a leading position in the whole country. Third, we possess a good internationalization advantage. We have a better cooperation and interaction with multi-national companies. In 2005, the total volume of foreign trade reached 227.94 billion USD. By the end of 2005, more than 150 global 500 enterprises have invested in Jiangsu and the paid-in capital have reached 13.18 billion USD, ranking No.1 in the whole country. The government and people of Jinngsu are dong their best to convert our comparative advantage into innovative advantage.
Without the active participation and support of multinational companies, this transformation can never be achieved. The degree of concentration and the quality of foreign direct investment tops the whole country, successively ranking No.1 in the past three years; the turnover of high-tech industry exceeded 100 billion USD; the export volume of high-tech products took 42.7 percent of the total export volume of Jiangsu Province and over half of the turnover and export was achieved by multinational companies. Multinational companies have made a great contribution to the improvement of product structure, technical advancement and industrial update.
Wuxi leads the development of open economy in Jiangsu Province. Wuxi is also one of China’s most dynamic cities in terms of economy recognized by CCTV. And now, Wuxi is also leading in the process of innovation. In a word, Wuxi possesses the right time, right place and right people. I hope that this summit could increase our mutual understanding and friendship. And we should grasp today’s great opportunity of development and further enlarge the economic, cultural and scientific exchange and cooperation between Jiangsu, Wuxi and friendly cities from home and abroad.
