Changsha builds a new hi-tech economic base

Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan province, is attracting huge investments from home and abroad to boost the local economy.

In a major step toward achieving the goal, the city this month signed 13 deals valued at 13.6 billion yuan in Beijing with a dozen Chinese and overseas companies.

One of the bigger deals is the one signed by the Changsha government and the China Electronics Corp to jointly build a high technology software park in the capital city of Hunan. The project will need an investment of at least 3 billion yuan.

Changsha is shifting its industrial focus on information technology, services and new energy industries as its new growth engines for the local economy.

Changsha is also actively seeking partnerships with foreign investors. The city is working with the Spanish Innovative Technology and Enterprise Management Business Center to establish a Spanish Industrial Park in Changsha Hi-Tech Zone.

The project is Spain's largest investment project in central China. Once the project is completed, Spanish enterprises will establish offices and plants in Changsha.

"Armed with well-developed industrial infrastructure, the city is planning these high technology parks to support the growing economy." said Chen Run'er, Party secretary of Changsha.

He said the city boasts a great potential for partnership cooperation and investment from both Chinese and foreign companies.

"The city also has a large and fast-growing consumer market that provides opportunities for business cooperation," he said. "We are going to rely on the increase of consumption to further develop and upgrade local industries."

In 2008, the city's economy grew at an annual rate of 15.1 percent, with per capita GDP reaching $6,696.

By the end of October, Changsha had attracted total investments of 59.7 billion yuan from home and abroad - a year-on-year increase of 15 percent, according to the Changsha Municipal Bureau of Commerce.

In 2008, Changsha attracted roughly $1.8 billion in foreign direct investment, an annual increase of 19.7 percent from 2007, according to a 2009 report by consulting firm KPMG.

By the end of 2008, more than 2,900 foreign investment enterprises had established a presence in Changsha, including 26 Fortune 500 companies such as Mitsubishi, Coca-Cola, Bosch and Hitachi.

The city is now shifting its focus from traditional Pearl River Delta zones to the Yangtze River Delta and Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan Area for more investment opportunities.

"Many well-known State-owned enterprises, private companies and Fortune 500 companies have their headquarters in these areas, so it means more cooperation opportunities for us," said Yang Xinglong, director of the Changsha Municipal Bureau of Commerce.

Yang said Changsha is a good investment destination because of the city's adequate capital resources, sound industry infrastructure, favorable government policies and simple project approval process.

(China Daily 12/21/2009 page8)