The Huaqiao Economic Development Zone's service industry added value is estimated to be 12.2 billion yuan ($2.01 billion) in 2013, a growth of 28.4 percent year-on-year.For the first time, the added-value of Huaqiao’s service industry surpassed 10 billion yuan, according to a work conference on Dec 18, Kunshan Daily reported on Dec 19.

By taking advantage of its location as a neighbor to Shanghai and its advantage in cross-Straits cooperation, the Huaqiao Economic Development Zone has enhanced the centralized development of its modern service industry.

A total of 69 large-scale service projects were launched in Huaqiao this year, including a back-end operation center for the Shanghai Stock Exchange, an innovative media cloud center for IBM in Greater China and an internet finance project for ISoftStone.

The State Council’s approval of the Kunshan Experimental Zone in February accelerated the construction of the Cross-Straits (Kunshan) Trade Demonstration Zone. A total of 36 trade enterprises have settled in the zone. In addition, 330 service enterprises began operations in Huaqiao this year.

Huaqiao will seek to attract a batch of service projects with large investment, high brand influence and great potential from its key target areas: Shanghai and Taiwan. In order to maintain growth at a rate of about 20 percent, Huaqiao will speed up the construction of a Taiwan-funded finance enterprise cluster, a backup area for Shanghai’s finance center and a regional headquarters cluster, according to Shen Huafei, deputy head of the administration committee of the Huaqiao Economic Development Zone.

Edited by Liu Yufen and Michael Thai