7/12/11 - Mayor Edwin M. Lee today announced during his welcoming remarks at the Intersolar Conference in San Francisco that China Sunergy, a NASDAQ-listed (CSUN) solar company based in Nanjing, China, will be opening its North American headquarters in San Francisco’s Financial District at 575 Market Street. It was one year ago that contact was initiated with China Sunergy at the Intersolar Conference by the San Francisco Center for Economic Development, and ChinaSF has since worked continuously with China Sunergy to bring them to San Francisco.

“We are thrilled that China Sunergy has chosen San Francisco for its North American headquarters location,” said Mayor Lee. “As leading Chinese businesses, such as China Sunergy, grow in the international cleantech market, San Francisco enthusiastically welcomes them.”

“By locating in San Francisco, we are well-positioned to grow into the San Francisco Bay Area, California, and North American markets,” said China Sunergy Board Chairman Tingxiu Lu. “We see these markets as key to our company’s growth and we believe that we have chosen the perfect location from which to start and quickly succeed.”

As China Sunergy grows, their future plans potentially include bringing manufacturing operations to the US. Over the past year, ChinaSF worked with China Sunergy by visiting their headquarters in Nanjing, China and by connecting them to San Francisco-based professional partners. Last October, ChinaSF also brought a Mayor’s Office/ChinaSF delegation to meet with China Sunergy executives.

“Four years ago the City brought together the public and private sector to launch a focused initiative dedicated to making San Francisco the premier gateway between the US and China markets,” said Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) Director Jennifer Matz. “Through these efforts, San Francisco is quickly becoming the location of choice for Chinese firms looking for a North American headquarters – driving job growth and economic activity.”

“This shows the effectiveness of ChinaSF with this most recent attraction taking place in barely a year’s time,” said ChinaSF Executive Director Ginny Fang. “San Francisco is the perfect place for Chinese cleantech companies, such as China Sunergy, to locate their North American headquarters. We heartily congratulate China Sunergy.”

About China Sunergy 
China Sunergy (NASDAQ CSUN) was established in August 2004, and publicly listed on NASDAQ in 2007. A vertically-integrated photo-voltaic (PV) manufacturer, China Sunergy had an annual cell capacity of 400MW and module capacity of 480MW in 2010. At present, the CSUN network covers Europe, America, Australia and Asia. CSUN plans to invest an additional 1GW of capacity into Quasar cell modules with target efficiency goals surpassing 19 percent. For more information, go to: www.chinasunergy.com .

About ChinaSF
With offices in Beijing, Shanghai and San Francisco, ChinaSF is a public-private initiative of the San Francisco Center for Economic Development (SFCED), in close partnership with the City of San Francisco’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD), supported by funding from private sector partners. Its goal is to attract and retain Chinese investment and business expansion into San Francisco and the Bay Area, and to also support San Francisco Bay Area businesses in their business efforts in China.

Between 2008 and 2011, amidst one of the worst financial crises in history, ChinaSF successfully facilitated the expansion of 12 companies to San Francisco, and helped over a dozen Bay Area-based companies make important business connections in China.  In addition to the financial investment into the Bay Area, ChinaSF’s efforts have directly created over 120 jobs for the Bay Area not counting any resulting multiplier effects and benefits. For more information, go to: www.chinasf.org .