Yantai's sound business environment and innovative strategies made possible by the local government continue to boost its foreign trade, said a top official of the city.

According to Zhang Jiangting, mayor of Yantai, the city's foreign trade last year exceeded $43.7 billion, including a 31.5 percent increase in exports worth $25.4 billion.

Zhang said foreign trade is a powerful engine for Yantai's economic development，and will sharpen the city's competitive edge in the coming years.

The city plans to reach $70 billion in its foreign trade, including exports worth $40 billion, according to the city's 12th five-year development plan (2011-2015).

Located on the eastern Shandong Peninsula between Bohai Bay and the Yellow Sea, Yantai is a regional transportation hub, an important industrial city in the Bohai-rim economic zone and a gateway to Northeast Asia.

Yantai adopted the policy of opening-up when the State Council first approved 14 coastal cities in 1984.The port city has established trade links with 190 countries and regions around the world, including the United States, Japan, South Korea, Britain and France.

Since the first foreign-funded project, with an investment of $70,000, was approved by Yantai's local government in 1984, the city has become home to more than 12,400 overseas-backed projects, including 70 funded by Fortune 500 companies, with combined investments totaling $41 billion.

Exports by international companies accounted 85.2 percent of Yantai's total export volume in 2010, said Yu Dong, head of the city's commerce bureau.

Investment priorities

Zhang said Yantai will intensify efforts to bring in more foreign investment and optimize its industrial structure over the next five years.

He noted that traditional industries such as machinery, electronics, gold mining and food processing will adapt to a rapidly growing and environmentally friendly development.

With the help of foreign-funded high-tech enterprises, the city will also boost the development of emerging industries such as new energy, new materials, medicine and marine technology, he said.

Priority will be given to introducing foreign-backed tertiary industries of modern logistics, information, finance, insurance and exhibitions.

Leading local enterprises are encouraged to partner with Fortune 500 companies to enhance their competitiveness.

Zhang said Yantai is expected to attract 40 projects backed by Fortune 500 companies in the next five years.

The city also has a plan in place to support its top 10 export-oriented companies, including Wanhua Group, already Asia’s top producer of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), an aromatic diisocyanate widely used in chemical industries.

The city attributes great importance to the product export in a range of sectors, including electronic communication equipments, cars and parts, ships, marine engineering machinery, new materials, fruits and vegetables, petrochemicals, textiles, tires and aquatic products.

Yantai's authorities are also encouraging local enterprises to explore overseas markets, especially in textiles, garments, electronics, machinery and foods. To date, the city has more than 100 companies investing in about 30 countries and regions overseas.

By Ju Chuanjiang and Zhao Ruixue (China Daily Shandong Bureau)

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Nathan Place