STORY: How a small Chinese city became a big deal to foreign investors  
SHOOTING TIME: Recent footage
DATELINE: Sept. 21, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:39
LOCATION: KUNSHAN, China 
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Kunshang
2. SOUNDBITE(Chinese): SHAO ZHIQIANG, Deputy director of Kunshan comprehensive bonded zone administration bureau
3. various of Kunshang

STORYLINE:

Kunshan, a city in China's Jiangsu Province, has attracted investment from global coffee giants including Starbucks, Luckin Coffee and Louis Dreyfus, helping it gain a key position in the global coffee supply chain.

In May, Kunshan was named the "Capital of the International Coffee Industry" by the International Institute of Coffee Tasters, a prestigious recognition for the city that does not even grow coffee beans.

SOUNDBITE(Chinese): SHAO ZHIQIANG, Deputy director of Kunshan comprehensive bonded zone administration bureau
"Our coffee industry spans the entire process, from production to trade, and then to brand operation and research and development.
There is a 50,000 square meter climate-controlled warehouse for storing green coffee beans within the comprehensive bonded zone, involving imports from 24 countries."

Coffee is merely one thread in the tapestry of Kunshan's industrial strength.

Kunshan is home to over 20,000 industrial enterprises. The city's primary industries are electronics and equipment manufacturing, with new investments in such areas as smart wearables, automotive electronics, and new-energy vehicles.

Over the past few decades of opening up, Kunshan, which borders Shanghai, has attracted a stream of foreign investors.

According to the Kunshan Municipal Bureau of Commerce, the city has attracted more than 10,000 foreign-invested projects from more than 80 countries and regions since receiving its first foreign investment 40 years ago.

With less than one-10,000th of China's land area, Kunshan is home to some 1 percent of the country's actual utilized foreign capital, underscoring its strong appeal to global investors.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Kunshan, China.
(XHTV)