SEOUL, KOREA - Since the hosting of Samsung Electronics semiconductor plant, the Chinese city of Xi'an is experiencing a sea change. For example, the number of Korean expats living in the old city in the central-northwest region has quadrupled to 5,000, with Korean companies including Samsung partner firms numbering 100. Even though the city has been continuously inhabited for more than 3,000 years, it has been late in catching up with the change of time in the late 20th century.

 

 

Its biggest foreign investment had been US$300 million from America's Micron Technology. After the $7-billion investment by Samsung, other multinationals such as Johnson & Johnson of the United States and Samsung SDI followed suit with large-scale investment. Johnson & Johnson will build an antibiotic plant at the cost of $600 million while Samsung SDI plans to build an electric vehicle battery plant at almost the same cost.

 

At the automotive logistics industrial zone in the north of the city, China's auto manufacturer Geely is rumored to set up an automobile assembly plant. The city government has plunged into a bidding war to host the fourth Chinese plant for Kia Motors. Yulong Computer Telecommunication Scientific (Shenzhen), a Chinese company famous for the mobile phone brand "Coolpad," has confirmed to build a mobile phone assembly plant in the city.

 

The friendly attitude of Shaanxi Province officials toward foreign companies, especially Korean ones, was also a factor for Korean companies to move into the province in droves. For example, it took only 88 days for Samsung Electronics to get the final approval from application, which was unusual in China due to such applications must go through the central government.

 

On May 23, the Shaanxi Provincial Government will hold an 18th Investment and Trade Forum for Cooperation between East and West China at Xi'an. This year the event will be held concurrently with the Silk Road Economic and Trade Cooperation International Pavilion in which companies from 20 nations will participate. As many as 50 Korean companies will also take part in the event to test the waters of China's "interior" market.