Thanks to the state’s strategy of reinvigorating Northeast China, Shenyang, a central metropolis of the area, has recorded two-fold increase of foreign investment fund in the first quarter.

"The strategy of reinvigorating Northeast China has presented Shenyang unprecedented development opportunities,” an official with the Shenyang Municipal Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau said excitedly. “What we are now working on is how to pick up the right projects."

From January to March this year, Shenyang has received US$320 million direct foreign investment, 219 percent more than the US$100 million in the same period of 2003. So far, Shenyang has 69 projects with investment of over US$1 million, a number 176 percent larger than the 25 for 2003. Their total fund, US$300 million, is 213.9 percent more than the previous year’s figure of US$95 million.

In the first quarter, investors from 18 countries and regions transferred their funds to Shenyang. Top on the list are South Korea, Japan, the United States and Australia. The five best choices of foreign investment include real estate, wholesaling and retailing, special equipment manufacturing, non-ferrous metallurgy and rolling, and manufacture of transport equipment and facilities. The service industry has attracted around US$200 million, accounting for 60 percent of the total investment fund of the first season. The second position comes to industrial sectors, which attracted US$124 million, or 38.3 percent of the total

The city's Tiexi New Area, which is home to many old industrial enterprises, takes the lead in boosting economic development. It absorbed US$150 million foreign capital in the first quarter and created over 2,000 jobs for laid-off workers.

(China.org.cn by Xu Zhiquan, April 23, 2004)