(60 projects jointly opened business and commenced)

On April 30, Huaqiao International Service Business Park held the Conference on Joint Business-opening and Commencement of Projects and Construction of Principal Industrial Programs and Soft Environment, where another 60 principal projects jointly opened business. To date, the Park has introduced more than 100 large scale modern service programs, with the total investment volume of over 40 billion yuan. Standing Committee member of the Provincial Party Committee, the Secretary of Suzhou Municipal Party Committee Wang Rong, Vice Chairman of Shanghai Political Consultative Conference and Director of China Sourcing Co. Ltd Zhu Xiaoming, Chief of Foreign Trade and Economic Department of Jiangsu Province Zhu Min, Chief of Provincial Construction Department Zhou Lan, the Deputy Secretary of Municipal Party Committee and Mayor of Suzhou Yan Li, Deputy Chief of Provincial Information Industry Department Gong Huaijin, Executive Deputy Mayor of Suzhou Cao Fulong, the Secretary of Kunshan Municipal Party Committee Zhang Guohua, the Deputy Secretary of Kunshan Municipal Party Committee and mayor Guan Aiguo, and other municipal leaders such as Xuan Binglong, Shen Liming, Xu Qinglong, Zhang Xuechun, Ren Xueyuan, Qian Jiede, Huang Jian attended.

Academic experts in finance and representatives of business both home and abroad were also present. Municipal Standing Committee member and Director of the Administration Committee of the Huaqiao Economic Development Zone, Ren Xueyuan, presided over the meeting. Wang Rong cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony of the projects such as Sofmit Group, Tangram Customer Interaction Center, etc and the commencement ceremony of Centrin Data Systems, Goleaders Wooden Products Co. Ltd, Tangram Customer Interaction Center, China Data Group. Wang also launched the English version of Huaqiao’s portal.

Zhang Guohua addressed the conference and according to him, under the great leadership of the provincial and municipal governments and the Suzhou Municipal Party Committee, Huaqiao’s construction has achieved many breakthroughs. Despite the international financial crisis, it maintains the momentum of continuous development, a cluster district composed of four industries ranging from service outsourcing, headquarters economy, logistics and trading having taken initial shape. A group of financial service outsourcing enterprises such as Capgemini, Sofmit Group, China Data Group, Centrin Data Systems, and Tangram Customer Interaction Center has come into the Park. To date, Huaqiao has introduced over 100 large scale and modern service programs, with the total investment volume of more than 40 billion yuan.

Zhang stressed that, the fact that 60 principal projects jointly opened business reveals that Huaqiao has entered a new stage of rapid development. Faced with the situation where the international financial restructuring is being carried out, Shanghai is building itself as the international financial and shipping center, and the cooperation with overseas investors in economy and trading is being enlarged, Huaqiao will make unremitting efforts to accelerate its development.

The recent unveiling of three policies and establishment of three centers and the financial BPO fund is crucial to enhance Huaqiao’s competitiveness. With the aim to become a successful case of economic structuring and upgrading in Suzhou and even in Jiangsu Province against the background of global financial downturn, the Park will improve the industrial development environment, its specialized service, its infrastructure, the favorable industrial policies, and the professional talents, and will try its best to speed up the production, upgrade its function, enhance its image in this region, raise the efficiency in industrial gathering, and achieve breakthroughs in system and mechanism.

On behalf of the Suzhou Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government, Yan Li extended congratulations to the successful conference. He said, in recent years, Kunshan has been persistently making manufacturing as its supporting industry and developing the service sector as a way to strengthen its economy, as well as accelerating the spanning development in service industry. The above measures have led to a robust and fast-developing economy. Even during and after last year’s global financial crisis, the momentum of the development of Kunshan’s economy was maintained, Kunshan becoming a hot investment spot for investors from home and abroad. Since its construction, Huaqiao has given full play to its advantages, such as its location near Shanghai, the preferential policies in Jiangsu, and the low costs in Kunshan. It has successfully attracted abundant well-known domestic and international enterprises and principal projects, and formed a nearly complete financial BPO industrial chain.

He stated that with the coming of important projects such as Global Data Solutions Limited, the Park will gain more vitality and vigor. He hoped that through halving the costs in terms of construction, service and talents, optimizing the service, with the normal planning and design more impressive than the normal cities, infrastructure better than industrial gardens, business costs lowers than those in Shanghai, service system advanced than normal development zones, system and mechanism more optimized than other regions, Kunshan could build itself as an influential satellite town to the metropolis. The Suzhou Government will attach good importance to the construction of Huaqiao by providing policy support like before.

In the conference, the soft environment projects that had been brewing for a long time, such as the first financial BPO industrial fund in China, Huaqiao financial outsourcing research center, investor service center, and talent training and employment promotion center, were launched. Three policies such as Policy for Modern Service Talents, Some Policies for Speeding up the Development of Service Outsourcing, Some Policies for Enhancing the Development of Headquarters Economy were issued. These policies concerning soft environment could optimize the investment environment and speed up the gathering of dominant industries.

In the conference, the leading outsourcing enterprise Global Data Solutions (GDS) Ltd. officially announced its plan to come into the Park and establish its Huaqiao finance back-office business and its ecological industry garden. The GDS is another high-level financial service outsourcing project that Huaqiao has introduced after Centrin Data Systems and Capgemini.

There was an awarding ceremony during the conference. Mr. Yang Peng, the CEO of China Data Group in Huaqiao, was awarded the name of “Pioneer of High-level Entrepreneurship and Innovation” granted by the Jiangsu Provincial Government as well as cash grant of 2 million yuan from the Jiangsu provincial and Kunshan municipal government due to his great contribution to the service outsourcing industry.