Brisk development is envisaged this year for the Qinhuangdao
Economic and Technological Development Zone (QETDZ) through
increased domestic and foreign investments, said Hu Yingjie,
director of the QETDZ's administrative committee on Tuesday.
Hu made his observations at a press conference during a
publicity campaign running from August 22-24 and launched by the
Information Office of Qinhuangdao municipal government, Hebei Province and the QETDZ Information
Center.
As one of the first state-level economic and technological
development zones approved by the State Council in October 1984,
QETDZ has achieved much over the past 22 years and has laid solid
foundations for future development, Hu said.
From January to July this year, the added value of all
industrial enterprises above designated size reached a total of
2.938 billion yuan (US$368.45 million) – an 8.9 percent increase
compared to the same period of last year. Both the state-owned and
share-holding enterprises continued to grow rapidly with their
added value increasing by 28 percent and 27 percent year-on-year
respectively to reach 175 million yuan (US$21.95 million) and 255
million yuan (US$31.98 million).
By the end of 2005, the number of approved projects reached
4,155 of which 631 were foreign-invested with total funding of
US$4.229 billion. The contractual value of foreign investment
totaled US$2.791 billion and the foreign direct investment which
was materialized amounted to US$1.336 billion. The investors are
from 33 countries and regions including the US, Britain, Germany,
Japan, Australia, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
QETDZ has initially formed five industry groups with their own
distinctive markets. These include oil, cereals and foodstuffs
processing, automobile and parts, large equipment manufacturing,
metal rolling and manufacturing and glass building materials.
QETDZ is adjacent to Beijing and Tianjin and located in the
center of the rapidly emerging Bohai Bay ring. On November 9, 2005,
the State Council officially approved an expanded area of 16.08
square kilometers for QETDZ and the entire development zone now
stands at 56.72 square kilometers.
(China.org.cn by staff reporter Zhou Jing, August 23, 2006)