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)