Yantai to woo Hong Kong investors

The Third Yantai (Hong Kong) Economic and Trade Promotion Campaign is set to begin on February 26 in Hong Kong, with the beautiful and vibrant coastal city of Yantai going all out to woo investors from the islands.

"Hong Kong is Yantai's big trade partner. We will further promote overall economic and trade cooperation between Yantai and Hong Kong in 2008," said Li Shuqin, vice mayor of Yantai city.

Located in the east Shandong Peninsula in East China's Shandong province, Yantai is one of China's first 14 coastal cities to be opened to the outside world. It is one of the transport junction cities around China's Bohai Sea Economic Circle and the eastern seas.

The opening up policy has boosted the city's economic and social development over the years, bringing a sound and salubrious investment environment that has attracted increasing attention from home and abroad.

In 2006, Yantai was listed as one of China's six gold-medal cities in a World Bank report on the investment environment of 120 Chinese cities. Also, it ranks eighth on the list of cities in China worthiest of investment by multinational corporations.

By the end of 2007, Yantai had direct trade relations with over 180 countries and regions and friendly ties with 14 cities in 10 countries. About 70 Fortune 500 companies currently have highly profitable operations in Yantai.

By the end of last year, Yantai had signed a total of 10,551 projects with combined contractual capital registering at $32 billion, of which $15.23 billion have already been utilized. In 2007 alone, Yantai city attracted 401 projects worth $1.56 billion in contracted capital and $2.42 billion in utilized capital.

In 2007, Yantai's total import and export value reached $23.94 billion, a 58.8-percent increase compared with the previous year. Of this, export value accounted for $14.09 billion, an annual increase of 60.2 percent, while the import value of $9.85 billion reflected an increase of 56.9 percent compared to 2006.

Hong Kong is one of Yantai's main trade partners. By the end of 2007, Hong Kong businesses had invested in 2,795 projects in Yantai, with a combined contractual capital of $8.8 billion, and actually utilized capital worth $4.4 billion. Last year, Hong Kong developed 63 investment projects in Yantai involving $500 million in contracted capital, with actually utilized capital being $580 million.

Yantai's import and export trade value with Hong Kong last year reached $450 million, including $400 million in export value, an annual increase of 51 percent and 52.7 percent respectively. Yantai's main exports to Hong Kong include bijouterie, metalwork, textiles, electric appliances and garment, while its imports include plastics, paper pulp, and leather.

2008 is the year of the Beijing Olympics and also the year for China to open itself even wider to the world. Therefore, Yantai will reinforce cooperation with Hong Kong and further strengthen its four pillar industries of electronics, machinery, food, and gold bullion. While promoting development of the petroleum and chemicals, biological pharmacy, hi-tech and service industries, Yantai will speed up the formation of the three industry clusters of automobiles, mobile phones and computers.

The city plans to attract more investment, from multinational companies in particular, in order to create breakthroughs in headquarter economy, research and development centers, enterprise stock mergers and acquisitions, and financing and listing in overseas stock markets.

At present, the economy of the mainland is undergoing large-scale industrial structure upgrade. One of the central government's important aims is to vigorously develop service trade in order to change foreign trade growth mode and guarantee its sustained development.

Hong Kong is one of the regions where service trade is the most developed in the world. It is also the most important cooperation partner for the mainland in this respect. Yantai needs to develop its service trade and Hong Kong has the base of a developed service industry, factors that indicate Yantai and Hong Kong have great potential to further strengthen mutual cooperation in the time to come.

"Hong Kong and Yantai have developed long-standing economic and trade cooperation. Since Yantai launched reform and opening up, it was our Hong Kong friends who developed the first Yantai overseas investment project in the city. Hong Kong has played a crucial role in Yantai's foreign trade development. I hope, under the new situation and new opportunities, the cooperation between both sides achieves greater success," said Li.

(China Daily 02/22/2008 page24)