Western Projects List ReleasedThe Chinese Government unveiled a list of 225 projects with preferential policies for foreign investors yesterday, trying to attract more capital into the western and central regions.The list, contained in a circular endorsed by the State Council on June 16, was made public yesterday by the State Economic and Trade Commission (SETC), the State Development Planning Commission, and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation (MOFTEC). As a key step in developing China's central and western regions, the circular listed 225 projects as potentially profitable in 20 provinces. The projects range from agriculture to high-tech sectors, focusing on tourism, stockbreeding, agriculture, food processing, environmental protection, mining, electronic equipment manufacturing and technical innovation. Foreign investors can enjoy tax exemption for importing related equipments and the exemption of value-added tax if they invest in projects listed in the circular. "Through channeling in foreign capital, we expect to bring in novel ways of scientific management and state-of-art equipment, which we believe will tremendously boost the development of these provinces," said Wang Wanbing, vice-minister of the SETC. Wang said the circular fully displayed the State's determination to speed up the exploration and development of China's less-developed western and central regions. The circular also serves as a guideline for foreign investors to do business in the regions. To create a favorable environment for foreign investment, the State has decided to upgrade seven provincial special economic zones to State level, namely those in Zhengzhou, Changsha, Hefei, Chengdu, Kunming, Guiyang and Xi'an. These cities are located in western or central regions. Statistics from MOFTEC indicated that by the end of May, 349,537 foreign companies or enterprises have made investments in China. Contracted capital exceeded US$632.3 billion. |
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