Projects secure zone's progress
By Zhan Lisheng (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-12-24 09:04

GUANGZHOU: Three massive high-tech projects began operation and one export-oriented auto project completed construction yesterday in the Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone.

The projects add a finishing touch to the 20th anniversary of the zone's foundation.

Guangdong Software Science Park, Guangzhou Science and Technology Innovation Base and Lianzhong Stainless Steel Corp all kicked off operations, while Honda Automobile (China) Co Ltd finished construction of their new plant.

Guangdong Software Science Park, involving an investment of about 600 million yuan (US$72.29 million), is one of the nation's key software incubators.

The park has set up a supportive platform for software technology, the nation's leading software engineering research centre and a key software technology lab.

The 68 enterprises in the park are expected to churn out an annual production output value of 2 billion yuan (US$240.96 million).

The park, together with the city's Tianhe Software Park and Nansha Information Science and Technology Park, will help fortify the position of Guangzhou as one of the nation's leading software bases.

With a capital input of 250 million yuan (US$30.12 million) from the zone's administrative committee, Guangzhou Science and Technology Innovation Base offers adequate space to returned experts and professionals who have been educated overseas.

The base specializes in the research and development, trial and industrialization of state-of-the-art technological projects home and abroad.

Lianzhong Stainless Steel Corp, with an investment of US$790 million, is the project with the largest investment in the zone.

Invested by Taiwan-based Yieh United Steel Corp, which is one of the largest integrated stainless steel mills in Southeast Asia,Lianzhong is the nation's first overseas-invested hot rolled and cold rolled stainless steel company as well as the largest stainless steel base in South China.

Lianzhong will specialize in hot rolled and cold rolled stainless steel slabs.

The first phase of the project will be capable of an annual cold rolled stainless steel slab production of 300,000 tons; and the second phase, set begin operation in late 2005, will contribute another 800,000 tons of stainless steel billets, hot rolled and cold rolled stainless steel slabs.

About 80 per cent of Lianzhong's stainless steel will meet the domestic market demand, with the remaining 20 per cent targeting markets overseas.

Honda Automobile (China) Co Ltd, involving a capital input of US$125 million, is China's first automobile project whose stock share is dominated by foreign investment, as well as the only exclusively export-orientated automobile project in China.

The Honda project, set for operation in February 2005, is capable of yielding 50,000 "Jazz" economy sedans for the European market, with their production output value topping 4 billion yuan (US$481.93 million) annually.

According to Lin Weixian, director of the zone's administrative committee, 111 enterprises began operation and another 181 enterprises are under construction in the zone during the January-November period of this year.

The zone will encourage more projects that can help the zone's industrial chains take shape as well as those that can help optimize its industrial structure to set foot in Guangzhou.

The fine chemical, electronics and information technology, iron and steel processing, food and beverage, automobile and bio-medicine industries have all grown into the zone's pillar industries.

Guangzhou Mayor Zhang Guangning spoke highly of the efforts the zone's administrative committee has made to improve the investment environment and selection of investment projects, saying the zone has made great contributions to the economic development of the city.

The zone realized a gross industrial production output value of 106 billion yuan (US$12.77 billion) in the first 10 months of this year, making up 22.96 per cent of the city's total, official statistics indicate.

Contractual foreign investment the zone secured was worth US$754 million in the the first 10 months of the year, accounting for 34.83 per cent of the city's total.

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