The city of Longkou in East China's Shandong Province is aiming to double its current gross domestic product (GDP) by 2007, said the city's Party Secretary Yu Aijun.

The city's GDP is expected to reach 32.6 billion yuan (US$3.93 billion) and its annual fiscal revenue 1.3 billion yuan (US$157 million) by 2007, both doubling the figures from last year.

The city government has set a series of targets for various economic sectors to develop Longkou into a modern medium-sized port city, Yu said.

A plan to build industrial parks and establish a new industrial belt along the coast tops the city government's development agenda.

The new projects will aim to attract US$3.8 billion in overseas investment over the next five years.

The processing industry will be a focus of the city's development, Yu said. The number of enterprises producing for export is expected to rise to 500 and their combined annual exports to hit US$560 million by 2007, he said.

Industries into which the city's government hopes to attract overseas investment include aluminium, new building materials, machinery, auto parts, electronics, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and textiles, as well as fruit and vegetable processing.

The city's advantages as a port area will be given full play, Yu said. The wood-processing, shipbuilding and petrochemical industries are also major areas aiming to get support from overseas investment.

Most of the investment is expected to come from Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore and China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Taiwan Province.

Efforts will also be made to lure investment from Europe and the United States.

More than 20 companies from Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong have already invested in Longkou.

The Chinese mainland investment is also expected to play an important role in the city's development. Longkou plans to attract 1 billion yuan (US$12 million) in investment from mainland firms this years, Yu said.

By 2005, the city's high-tech industries are expected to produce 25 per cent of Longkou's total industrial output value.

The city signed US$250 million worth of contracts with overseas investors during the first six months of this year, a 345.7 per cent increase over the same period last year.

Some US$78.2 million in overseas investment was put into local projects, up 96 per cent over the first half of last year.

Enterprises in Longkou exported US$79.2 million worth of products during the January-June period, a 41 per cent increase over the corresponding period last year.

The good economic results in the first half of this year have laid a good foundation for the realization of the city's annual plan for this year, in which its GDP is expected to be 16 per cent more than last year, the use of overseas investment to grow by 40 per cent and exports by 27 per cent, Yu said.

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