Services boom for Urumqi

The first China-Eurasia Expo will promote city, region to investors

URUMQI - Domestic investment in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region is set to boom within the next few years.

That increase will be focused on the service industry, as a result of the first China-Eurasia Expo (CAE Expo), which will be held between Sept 1 and 5 in the city's new Xinjiang International Convention Center. The expo plans to promote trade and investment opportunities as a top priority.

"Many domestic enterprises have shown great interest in investing in Urumqi and most of them are centered in trade, hotels and other service industries," said Zhu Hailun, the Party chief of Urumqi, on Wednesday.

Zhu said the value of the CAE Expo will be measured by the increase in the volume of direct trade and investment in Xinjiang and the autonomous region will make great efforts to introduce the region to both domestic and foreign participants.

A successor to the annual China Urumqi Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Fair, the expo will promote the opening up of China's western region to both domestic and foreign markets.

According to Zhu, Dalian Wanda Group Corp Ltd and China Oceanwide Holdings Group will launch an investment project worth 15 billion yuan ($2.35 billion) in Urumqi this year.

"In addition, companies including Guangzhou-based Evergrande Real Estate Group and Beijing-based Century Golden Resources Group are negotiating with the government about investment projects in Urumqi, most of which are worth more than 10 billion yuan," Zhu added.

During the first half of the year, more than 300 domestic enterprises, including the construction and machinery company Sany Group Co Ltd and the electronics retailer Suning Appliance Co Ltd, invested a total of more than 28 billion yuan in Urumqi.

Most of the companies plan to enter the city's service industry, Zhu said. "Urumqi is the only metropolis in Xinjiang where people will be able to grasp great business opportunities in two huge markets of more than 1 billion people, domestically and abroad, because of its strategic position linking eight countries," he added.

At present, 23 Fortune Global 500 companies and 45 of Chin's top 500 enterprises have operations in Urumqi.

During the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015), State-owned enterprises (SOEs) plan to invest 991.6 billion yuan in Xinjiang, according to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC).

Wang Yong, chairman of SASAC, said the investment volume of SOEs in Xinjiang over the next five years will be double that of the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006-2010).

China Daily

(China Daily 09/01/2011 page14)