Despite the focus on the heavy industry in the Yangtze River Delta, in Zhejiang province the light industry is the main industry. The private sector in YRD is the most developed in China with many strong Chinese brand names and more than 99 pct. of the enterprises in Zhejiang are SMEs.

Shanghai is mounting efforts to develop a services-led economy by focusing on increasing the share of the tertiary industry while upgrading the secondary ones. At the same time they are determined on reducing the amount of high energy consumption enterprises by taking advantage of the economic downturn to close down old high-polluting factories.

As the labour cost around Shanghai is higher than further inland, many companies are starting to relocate their production base elsewhere while keeping their headquarters and R&D centres in the city. Such transformations have greatly changed the investment landscape in the city where the entry of manufacturing factories has declined.

Ningbo in Zhejiang province has a diversified industrial base offering great flexibility, competitiveness and good match-making potential for small and medium-sized companies. The city also has one of the largest concentrations of privately-owned businesses in China. Ningbo holds a strong position within industries such as electronics, magnets, advanced mechanics, shipping, energy and environment.

The pillar industries in Jiangsu are electronics, telecommunications, chemicals, machinery, equipment, textiles and metallurgy. In recent years, technology- and capital-intensive industries have been developing fast in areas such as electronics, information technology, optical-, mechanical-, and electronic integration, as well as new energy materials and energy saving.

Jiangsu’s service sector is attracting an increasing share of FDI. In 2008, FDI in the service sector amounted to nearly US$7.0 billion, accounted for 27.7% of the total, while this share was only 6.5% in 2001. Wholly foreign-owned company has overtaken joint venture as the dominant mode of FDI in recent years.