IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Native English teachers hired

All 13 primary and secondary schools in the Weifang Hi-Tech Industrial Development zone had native English-speaking language teachers as of the end of March. The zone is the first region in the city of Weifang to have a 100 percent coverage rate. As of the end of March, 43 native English-speaking language teachers - mainly from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada - are working in local primary and secondary schools.

New industrial park taking shape

Shengrui Transmission Co's automotive transmission industrial park, which started construction in May last year, will be completed in May. Shengrui developed the park to attract global vehicle transmission parts suppliers to develop a transmission production chain in the Weifang Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone. Nine companies have signed agreements to launch production bases in the park. The park will lower Shengrui's purchase costs due to lower cost of parts' inspection, cleaning and storage. About 400,000 sets of car components will be produced annually in the park, equal to 8 billion yuan ($1.16 billion) in industrial throughput.

Weichai Power obtains certificate

Weichai Power in the Weifang Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone obtained an advanced enterprise certificate from the General Administration of Customs on March 15. Weichai can enjoy more convenience in customs processing, shorter transit time, fast clearance and lower warehouse costs with this certificate. It also helps businesses to lower operational costs and strengthens enterprises' awareness and credibility in the global market. The goods inspection rate will be lowered from 5.5 percent to 0.5 percent for companies with the certificates.

(China Daily 04/10/2017 page12)