Non-governmental Firms Play Bigger RoleA total of 196 contracts were signed at a trade fair of non-governmental enterprises for northwestern China development, which was held in this capital city of Qinghai Province recently.The contracts cover the fields of infrastructure, environmental protection, tourism and restructuring of state-owned enterprises, involving a total value of 8.8 billion yuan (one billion U.S. dollars). This indicates that the great potential of northwest China has attracted the attention of a growing number of private investors. More than 1,000 private firm owners from 20 provinces attended the fair, which was organized by the State Economic and Trade Commission, the State Ethnic Affairs Commission and the Qinghai Provincial Government. Zhang Xiang, an entrepreneur from Chongqing City where the Three Gorges Power Project is being built, said some provincial governments of western China have placed their emphasis on infrastructure, which provides a golden chance for non- governmental entrepreneurs. The governments of Shaanxi, Gansu and Qinghai provinces and Ningxia Hui and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions have announced preferential treatments in terms of taxation, property right transfer and the right of land use. To date, China has 1.51 million non-governmental enterprises, which offer jobs for 60 million people. Their combined annual output value totaled 800 billion yuan last year, accounting for one eighth of China's gross domestic product. |
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