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CHINA> Special Reports
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Economic 'hothouse' proves investor hit
By Xu Jia (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-11 07:49
On April 4, 1993, with the approval of the State Council, the Changchun Economic & Technological Development Zone (CETDZ) was established as a State-level economic and technological development zone. The total area of the zone is 112.72 sq km. In 2001, the CETDZ was named one of the "10 outstanding development zones in China" and ranked 14th in the comprehensive investment environment evaluation of the 54 national economic development zones in 2007. The total fixed-asset investment of the CETDZ has reached 27.5 billion yuan so far. The CETDZ features complete production and living facilities such as office buildings, schools, hospitals, garden-styled residential quarters, a stadium, and the Changchun International Convention & Exhibition Center, all of which can fully meet the demands of investors from China and foreign countries. In 2002, the CETDZ passed the certification of the ISO 14001 environment management system, and received the EMS certificate issued by the Huaxia Certification Center and the international UKAS certificate issued by the British Royal Acceptance Commission. This shows that CETDZ's environment management is on the international track, and an investment environment conforming to international operation rules has been established. Since the CETDZ was set up, the administration committee adopted a development strategy to promote the growth of such key industries as corn chemicals, auto parts, modern service, food processing, photo-electronics, information and pharmaceuticals. The CETDZ's particular industrial advantages and reasonable structure enable the zone's economy and sales revenue to have a fast and steady growth. By the end of 2006, the CETDZ's total fixed-asset investment had reached 38.4 billion yuan. Among the 1,656 registered enterprises in the zone, 179 are foreign-funded, including those invested by 84 transnational corporations from 29 countries and regions. Twenty-nine Fortune 500 companies, including Siemens, Toyota and Johnson Control, have invested and expanded business here. The regional GDP reached 101.8 billion yuan in the past 16 years, with an industrial output value of 233 billion yuan and overall financial revenue of 15.7 billion yuan. The CETDZ had formed three industrial clusters in biochemistry, auto parts and service. In 2008, the output value of the three pillar industries accounted for 31.2 percent, 22 percent and 26.3 percent of the regional GDP respectively. The biochemistry industry represented by Dacheng Group, the special vehicle industry represented by Zhongxing Auto Company, and the auto parts industry represented by FAW Bus and Coach Company have played an important part in Changchun city. By 2008, the output value of the auto parts and biochemistry industry accounted for 80 percent of the zone's total output value and 64 enterprises achieved sales revenue of over 100 million yuan each. Four points will be highlighted in the future development of the CETDZ: The local authorities will give prominence to the economy and ensure economic growth. According to national and provincial plans of developing key industries, the CETDZ will attach more importance to expanding strong industries including the automobile and grain processing industry, as well as strengthening the competitive capability of other scientific and hi-tech industries such as the biochemistry, photo-electronic information and modern equipment manufacturing industries. The zone will pay attention to launching new projects and enhance industrial capacity for a sustained development. Introducing more projects with an open mind and efficient service is a guideline of the work needed for the next step. The authorities will shift the emphasis of efforts to the CETDZ's northern district and improve the investment environment. In the next few years, the northern part will be the core area of attracting investment and will contribute to the overall development. The zone will push the construction of industrial parks, including the Biochemistry Park, with a capacity of 1 million tons of corn chemicals, the Special Vehicle Park, with 200,000 units of vehicles, along with the Modern Equipment Manufacturing Park, the Logistics Park and the Comprehensive Bonded Logistics Park. In the near future, the CTEDZ will become a platform for cooperation and a haven for investment with its huge potential for business opportunities and strong development momentum. |
