After visiting the scenic spot of the West Lake, people
have another place to visit in Hangzhou, an important tourism city in East
China's Zhejiang Province.
It is the Hangzhou Economic and Technological Development Area (HEDA), which
was founded in 1993 as a State-level development zone under the approval of the
State Council.
Located on the north bank of the lower reaches of the Qiantang River, which
runs across the city, the zone has developed into an area with a balanced
development among industry, education, culture and ecology. It now occupies an
area of 34 square kilometres after 13 years of growth.
With respect to industrial development, the zone realized a gross industrial
output value of about 72.6 billion yuan (US$9.1 billion) last year, with foreign
export volume reaching US$3.93 billion.
The zone has seen more than 700 enterprises established during the past 13
years, of which 436 have been invested by foreign enterprises.
In 2004, it was listed by the Ministry of Commerce as one of the top 10
national-level development zones in terms of comprehensive economic strength.
In recent years, a number of renowned multinational companies, including Mary
Kay, Matsushita, and Coca-Cola, have moved their production bases to the zone.
On April 26, the China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corp Packaging
Co Ltd, one of China's leading packaging companies, set up its core production
base in the zone, making it the 48th top global 500 enterprise to have
investment in the zone.
The new plant covers an area of 11 hectares with US$30 million in registered
capital. Its operations include packaging container production, technological
development, and information communication services.
In March, Mary Kay (China) Cosmetics Co Ltd invested 100 million yuan
(US$12.5 million) to build Asia's largest cosmetic production centre in the
zone.
At present, the zone has more than 70 enterprises each with an annual
production value of more than 100 million yuan (US$12.5 million), of which two
have an annual production value reaching over 10 billion yuan (US$1.25 billion).
Toshiba built a laptop computer production centre in Xiasha New Town in the
zone early this year. The centre is designed to produce 2.4 million laptops
annually.
In addition, Matsushita has invested a total of US$240 million to build an
industrial park within the zone.
Following larger investments, the zone has formed four pillar industries,
including electronic information, biological medicines, machinery, and food and
beverages over the past 13 years.
The Ministry of Information Industry listed it as the national computer and
Internet industrial park last year for its rapid development in the IT
(information technology) industry over the past few years.
In another development, China Jiliang University, China's only university
qualified to offer Bachelor and Master degrees in the sectors of quality
supervision, inspection and quarantine, and the US-based ZiLOG, jointly set up
the ZiLOG-China Jiliang University Joint MCU Educational Lab in March.
The lab, together with another 15 higher education institutes, is expected to
provide strong technical research support and train more skilled professionals
for the zone.
More than 30,000 students graduate from these 15 universities each year, most
of whom are willing to work in the high-tech and scientific enterprises in the
zone.
SME becomes driving force
In addition, the zone now boasts a great number of small and medium-sized
enterprises, which focus on the high-tech industry.
At present, the industrial output value from the high-tech sector accounts
for more than half of the total in the zone.
In 2003, a training programme was launched for employees who work in the zone
to improve their working skills and knowledge of technology.
There are now about 5,000 workers receiving the training annually.
(China Daily 06/08/2006 page11)
