The Guangdong High Tech Service Zone for Financial Institutions. Photos provided to China Daily

Blueprint for reshaping image and infrastructure

The flourishing Pearl River Delta city of Foshan in South China's Guangdong province is pouring hefty investment into an ambitious plan to profoundly change the infrastructure and overall city image by 2014.

The plan includes 103 major projects and investment of 112.2 billion yuan ($17.97 billion). Most of the effort will go into infrastructure, renewal and upgrade of the aging downtown areas. It also includes public facilities and work to make the city eco-friendly, scenic and help improve the living standard of locals.

The city government expected the initiative to turn Foshan into an "ideal city" with sustainable economic development, appealing scenery, safe and convenient traffic with well-developed public services and healthcare.

At the core of the plan is construction of the so-called Foshan New Town, planned as the city's future central business district.

The city government will spend more than 9 billion yuan on the development of the new town in three years.

The new town is expected to integrate industrial and urban development and be home to headquarters economy, high-tech services and up-scale commerce.

"International business activities can't be held in small pubs - big business is more often done in deluxe hotels," noted Li Yiwei, Party secretary of Foshan.

"The city needs a facelift so that business people here will find it much easier to recruit in-demand professionals, business people elsewhere will become more willing to invest here and local people will live a better life."

Foshan Mayor Liu Yuelun agreed and said "what's more, the improvements are affordable for the city".

Economic strength

Official statistics indicate that Foshan's GDP reached 658.03 billion yuan in 2011, an increase of 12.1 percent over a year previous. Its GDP target for this year is 10 percent growth from 2011.

Its industrial output - excluding companies with an annual business turnover of less than 5 million yuan- was worth 1.74 trillion yuan last year, an increase of 18 percent.

Foshan ranked 12th in comprehensive competitiveness among the 294 cities nationwide including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, according to a report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences last year.

Four of the city's five subordinate districts were on the list of the nation's 100 richest districts or counties in 2006, the last time they were rated in China.

According to the mayor, governments at the city, district and township levels will jointly raise funds for the projects, especially those related to infrastructure, while encouraging business people to get involved in projects, say in the way of BOT (build-operate-transfer).

The mayor urged the subordinate districts of Chancheng, Nanhai, Shunde, Gaoming and Sanshui to coordinate well among themselves and join close forces on the aggressive blueprint.

Zhou Zhitong, director-general of the municipal foreign trade and economic cooperation bureau, hailed the city's unprecedented move to improve the infrastructure and city image.

"The city will definitely heat up for investors in tandem with the further improvement in the investment climate," the official said.

zhanlisheng@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 11/09/2012 page24)