Qinghai Draws More Overseas InvestmentNorthwest China's Qinghai Province used US$110 million of overseas funds in 2000. It is the first time for the province to have received more than US$100 million in contractual overseas investment, said a local economic official.Last year, the province set up more than 40 overseas-invested enterprises involving a total investment of US$216 million. The funds, which came from the United States, Canada, Australia as well as Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, were put into non-ferrous metal mining, processing of pasturage products, transportation, construction, real estate, telecommunications and plateau tourism. The plateau province is the source of China's three major rivers, the Yangtze, the Yellow, and the Lancang, and is rich in hydropower, petroleum, natural gas, non-ferrous metals and potash fertilizer. To attract more overseas investment, the province has introduced a series of preferential policies while making efforts in improving the investment environment in recent years. The province has opened a website that offers information about economic development, the official said. Qinghai also attended or hosted a number of trade fairs last year to promote exchange and cooperation with foreign counterparts. Qinghai expects to attract an annual overseas investment of US$340m in 2005, accounting for 10 percent of the province's total investment in fixed assets. |
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