China: Foreign-funded firms explore repair services in China's bonded zone.

Storyline Foreign-funded firms explore repair services in China's bonded zone China is developing its bonded repair industry in various free trade industrial parks in the country. Bonded repairs are offered by Chinese companies that manufacture things like high-end electronic devices for foreign firms. Companies like this in eastern China’s Suzhou that manufacturers hearing aids for Swiss firm Sonova. Now Chinese companies can earn money from manufacturing the product as well as from after-sales testing and repair services. Zhang Mei, senior operations director, Sonova's Suzhou Branch: "Based on our current projections, we repair 700,000 cochlear implants per year, generating an output value of 14 million yuan (around 2.05 million U.S. dollars). This could drive a 14 percent year-on-year increase in our production orders." Cao Yongxin, director, Suzhou Industrial Park Customs: "As a new form of foreign trade, bonded repair has shifted the traditional product manufacturing and selling to the entire product lifecycle, thereby keeping high-value-added links such as after-sales service and remanufacturing in China. Such a trend not only optimized the structure, but also extended China's position in global industrial and supply chains, enhanced the irreplaceability of its supply chains, and thus strengthened the country's initiative and discourse power in the international market." The push to develop bonded repair services is part a larger countrywide focus on developing comprehensive bonded zones across the country. Chinese authorities announced 24 measures in mid-April focused on improving the zones’ business models, supply chains, and regulations for efficient imports and exports. [Restrictions: No access Chinese mainland]