Two prominent foreign manufacturers have selected Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, to become their regional headquarters in central China. Toshiba has opened a branch office in Wuhan, and it will cover the markets of Hubei, Hunan, Henan and Sichuan provinces. Previously, the company worked with Wuhan Steam Turbine Plant in constructing Wuhan No.1 and No.2 metro lines.
CISCO Systems of the US has also selected Wuhan as its regional business headquarters. The supplier of networking equipment and network management for the internet has invested US$8.5bn in China since 2002. It has founded the Cisco Networking Academy with four colleges, including Wuhan University and Huazhong University of Science and Technology.