EU companies not to take a hit

European firms operating in Jiangsu province are unlikely to be significantly impacted by China's new coastal development policy, a European Union Chamber of Commerce official has said.

"It will affect export-oriented domestic firms, but our companies focus on the China-market," the chamber's Nanjing board chair Hans-Christian Marxen told China Daily.

Marxen also believed the expanded investment in domestic hi-tech firms would not intensify competition between these companies and their European counterparts. Most European firms operating along Jiangsu's coast are in hi-tech sectors, such as petrochemicals, electronics and automotives.