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BIZCHINA> Top Biz News
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Hi-tech fueling Weihai prosperity
By Zhao Ruixue (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-12 08:58 As many areas of Shandong province gear up to develop hi-tech industries, the coastal city of Weihai plans to lead the pack using its existing advantages and new policies. "To build a hi-tech industrial cluster in five to 10 years is a strategic target for Weihai," Sun Shutao, mayor of Weihai, told China Daily. "This cluster is set to be a new engine to drive Weihai's economic growth to usher in a golden period for cities in Shandong," he said. "Weihai will definitely grasp this opportunity to be competitive." The mayor said the city already has an ambitious plan in place for developing the hi-tech industry.
According to the blueprint, the output value of hi-tech industries is projected to account for 38 percent of the city's total industrial output value in 2020. Weihai's hi-tech sector generated 143.4 billion yuan ($21 billion) last year, an increase of 33.8 percent over 2007. The first nine months of this year saw a 14 percent increase. Sun said the city's current competitiveness in developing the hi-tech industry builds on its capacity as the nation's largest production center for tires, hand tools, woodworking machines and medical polymer products. New hi-tech products include modern equipment manufacturing, electronic information and new materials, the mayor said. According to Liu Shuwei, deputy director of the Weihai Development and Reform Committee, the city is especially proficient in new materials including radial tires, polymers, carbon fiber composites, low-radiation coated glass, magnesium and aluminum alloys, nanotechnology textiles and wear-resistant materials. Because of the extensive use of high technology, 30 of those products have leading positions in the domestic market and some reach the international level. New investment Dozens of investors have established hi-tech facilities in the city this year, including Weihai Huadong Heavy Industry Machine Co Ltd jointly invested by Weihai Huadong CNC Co Ltd and Schiess Brighton GmbH in Germany, which began operation in January. It is one of the few companies in China that have the key technologies needed for manufacturing heavy-duty and super-heavy machine tools. Shipbuilding projects funded by companies including DSME Weihai Co Ltd and Samsung Heavy Industries Co Ltd are expected to greatly improve Weihai's competitiveness in the industry. According to Sun, the city's shipbuilding capacity is projected to reach 1.6 million deadweight tons, with revenues of 10 billion yuan, in 2010. Those figures are expected to increase to 4 million deadweight tons and 30 billion yuan by 2020.
In the new materials sector, Weihai's local Guangwei Group and its Russian partners have jointly established the Guangwei International Scientific Cooperation Base for New Materials. The center and Guangwei's existing facilities are expected to have a production capacity of 10,000 tons of new materials in 2012 and generate sales revenue of 10 billion yuan. Confident in its advanced radial tire technology, Triangle Group - the largest tire enterprise in China integrating R&D, manufacturing and sales - has invested 3.2 billion yuan in a new industrial park in Weihai. The facility is designed to produce 5.6 million all-steel radial tires each year. With the completion of the park in 2012, the annual gross production of the whole group is expected to reach 40 million tires and total sales revenue of 24 billion yuan. Mayor Sun said Weihai will complete development of 10 hi-tech industrial parks in the near future that are expected to become favorable investment destinations for both domestic and foreign companies.
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