Yantai and Qingdao, two of the economic-powerhouse cities of Shandong province, Wednesday held economic and trade cooperation signing ceremonies with Hong Kong investors as the 2010 (Hong Kong) Shandong Week continued.

Located in east Shandong peninsula and widely known for its tourism resources in China, Yantai this year brought to Hong Kong dozens of investment projects, including undertakings in infrastructure and real estate, tourism, logistics, advanced manufacturing and featured industry parks. Deals for 18 projects, involving total investment of US$1.47 billion, were sealed on-site at the signing ceremonies held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center Wednesday morning.

Zhang Jiangting, mayor of Yantai, said that since the first Hong Kong investment in the city in 1984, nearly 3,000 cooperation projects between the two cities have been undertaken, noting that Hong Kong has become Yantai's biggest outside investor over the years.

"In 2009, import and export trade between Hong Kong and Yantai totaled US$580 million. Hong Kong compatriots have not just invested in our city, but have actively supported us to organize a series of economic and trade activities in Hong Kong, as well as a fruits and vegetables fair and wine festivals in Yantai," said Zhang.

Yantai is among the first 14 mainland coastal cities that opened up to the outside world. Over the past 20 years, the city has given full play to its own strength to develop tourism, logistics, and manufacturing industries, and has explored 4 potential industries including petrochemical, metallurgical, biological and nuclear power industries.

Zhang believes Yantai's comparative advantages could integrate well with service-oriented Hong Kong, and expects more Yantai enterprises to utilize Hong Kong as a platform to attract international capital.

The provincial capital of Shandong province, Qingdao held its own economic and trade signing ceremony Wednesday afternoon at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Hong Kong.

During this year's Shandong Week, Qingdao has signed contracts for 79 projects with Hong Kong investors, involving a total investment of $17.5 billion, of which 52 are service-related projects, with the rest being manufacturing-related investments.

"Qingdao and Hong Kong are similar in many ways: we are both open cities, port cities, brand cities, tourism cities and Olympic cities. During China's opening up in the past 30 years, Hong Kong has always been Qingdao's most important trade and investment partner, and the two sides have maintained a good relationship in various fields," said Xia Geng, mayor of Qingdao.

Xia said over the past 10 years, ports, logistics, finance, tourism and other modern service industries have become the mainstream sectors the two cities cooperatively develop. Nearly 3,500 Hong Kong enterprises and organizations have been established in Qingdao, while advancing manufacturing industries, real estate, modern service industries and other fields. Among them, 588 projects have involved investment amounts equal to or in excess of US$10 million.

Margaret Fong, acting chief executive of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, delivered a keynote speech for the event. Fong said the high-level economic and trade cooperation between the two cities has been comprehensive and proactive over the years. As Hong Kong and Qingdao are close trading partners, she believes the growing economic and trade activities between the two cities will further boost bilateral exchanges and drive the cooperation between the two cities to a new level.

China Daily

(HK Edition 05/13/2010 page2)