Hosting the summer meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF)
would win Dalian, a port city nested in northeast China's Liaoning
Province, a golden opportunity for development, officials and
experts said ahead of the meeting.
"It will bring the city more chances to open itself up," said
Xia Deren, mayor of Dalian. "It could also help local companies
emerge as global players."
Li Bozhou, head of the Dalian Council for Promotion of
International Trade, saw the summer Davos meeting a chance to make
Dalian better known to the world. "This is a beginning, and more
such events shall be held here and some of the participants might
come to Dalian again in the future."
The port, industrial, trade and tourism city of Dalian is one of
the attractive cities for foreign investment in northeast China.
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According to Liu Dechun, head of the Trade and Economic
Cooperation of Dalian, the city approved 377 foreign-funded
companies, with the actual use of 1.76 billion yuan (231.6 million
U.S. dollars of foreign investment during the first seven months
this year, up 111.4 percent over the corresponding period last
year. Imports and exports totaled 20.44 billion U.S. dollars, up
27.68 percent.
Thirty-one foreign companies with each investing at least 50
million U.S. dollars expanded their presence in Dalian. U.S.
computer chip giant Intel Corp. announced in March this year to
establish a 2.5-billion-U.S.-dollar semiconductor plant, its first
Asian factory.
Dalian, covering 12,574 square km and boasting a population of
5.5 million, is recognized as the spearhead of northeast China in
economic growth. It raked in a GDP of 256.9 billion yuan (33.8
billion U.S. dollars) last year, up 16.5 percent over 2005.
China is striving to rejuvenate its old industrial base of
northeast China, a 1.45-million-square-km area comprising the
provinces of Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang and the eastern part of
Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
The last three years has seen dramatic economic growth in the
region, which caught up with the national average, said Zhang
Guobao, vice minister of the National Development and Reform
Commission.
(Xinhua News Agency September 6, 2007)
