Samsung project highlights competitive edges of Xi’an

On the evening of April 10, residents were surprised to find their Jinye Street mesmerizingly illuminated by a multitude of colorful lamps with the Samsung logo. Placards reading “congratulations to the settlement of Samsung memory chip plant in Xi’an” also shone merrily at City Gate and the Tang Dynasty Wall Site Park at XHTZ.

Yes, here has arrived Samsung Electronics’ memory chip, a newly installed plant at Xi’an High-Tech Industries Development Zone on which numerous people of the province have pinned their hopes. This US$7 billion investment on the Korean part is expected to open a new chapter in the history of XHTZ, Xi’an and Shaanxi province.

Why Xi’an is so favored by the electronics giant? Mr. Jun Jae Won, consul general of the ROK in Xi’an, spoke highly of the “Xi’an speed” during the settlement of the project. It is precisely due to such speed and efficiency, together with the good investment environment and governmental support, that Samsung resolved to settle here to create a bright future together with the zone.

Industry: a gathering of famous enterprises

As Xi’an marches toward a metropolis of historical and cultural characteristics, it has grown to accommodate more than 130 enterprises or offices set up by some of the world top 500 and some other high-end IT companies and equipment manufacturers.

Xi’an High-Tech Industries Development Zone (XHTZ), one of China’s first-batch high-tech zones at state level, has formed dominating industries including IT, equipment manufacturing, biomedicine and modern service, and grown to be the high-tech zone of largest economic aggregate and most active innovations in central and western China. In recent years it has lured in some of the world top 500 and noted IT companies including Qualcomm, GE, Ericsson, Meguiars, Walsin, SIMMTECH, NEC, ZTE and Huawei. In 2011 alone, 15 out of the world top 500 settled here. All these contributed to the IT industry here and helped with industrial chain.

“We have been six years here and witnessed the growth of the IT industrial chain,” said a person in charge of Applied Materials. The zone paid great attention to new-generation IT industry and formulated detailed development plans. After years of efforts, it has shifted from “big investment invitation” to “inviting big investors”, with the industrial layout shifting to resource conservation, clean production and bio-industrial chain. The first-class industry supportive system has filled Samsung with confidence in future.