A video conference is held between Wu Xinming, acting mayor of Nantong and executives of multinational companies on Dec 21. [Photo/ntfabu.com]

Wu Xinming, acting mayor of Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province, held a video conference with executives of multinational companies on Dec 21.

During the conference, Wu spoke about Nantong's economic and social development and thanked participants for their investment and confidence in the city.

Wu said that Nantong boasts more convenient access to Shanghai and will be looking to play a more important role in the integration of the Yangtze River Delta.

Foreign-invested companies have become an important driver of Nantong's high-quality development and the city will expand its cooperation such enterprises across more areas, noted Wu.

He also welcomed foreign-invested companies to bring more high-quality projects to the city, noting that Nantong will step up efforts to attract investment and offer more efficient services and favorable business environment to local companies next year.

Executives from Germany-based Sanacorp Pharmaholding AG, Japan-based Musashi Seimitsu Industry Co Ltd, Unisteel Technology (China) Co Ltd, and Austria-based STIWA GROUP thanked the Nantong government for its support during the conference.

They said that they will bring cutting-edge technologies and products to China and introduce China's self-developed products and technologies to the world.

They also expressed hopes of cooperating with Nantong in biological medicine, precision machinery, and new energy vehicles.

During the conference, Sanacorp, Unisteel, and Musashi Seimitsu agreed to establish a 150-million-euro ($169.23 million) biological medicine production base, a $150-million second phase of Unisteel Technology (China) Co Ltd, and a $60-million NEV parts production base in Nantong.

Nantong is currently home to 3,734 foreign-invested companies, including 58 Global Fortune 500 companies, and has utilized more than $45 billion in foreign investment. Its trading partners span 206 countries and regions. This year, the city's foreign trade value is expected to exceed $50 billion.