City Strengthens Ties with ROKThe port city of North China's Hebei Province is intensifying its efforts to promote trade and economic co-operation with the Republic of Korea (ROK).Qinhuangdao is expected to open a shipping service between the city and Incheon of ROK to meet the rising demand from bilateral trade activities. At the same time, a South Korean park is being developed at the Qinhuangdao Economic and Technological Development Zone to entice ROK investors, a press conference for the 13th Qinhuangdao Beidaihe Summer Economic and Trade Fair revealed. Vice-Mayor Li Hongwei said negotiations were under way for opening the Qinhuangdao-Incheon shipping service in the near future. The planned shipping line will provide return journeys for cargo and passenger shipping services. Huang Jianhua, deputy director of the Qinhuangdao Port Authority, said his port has an annual cargo handling capacity of 124 million tons. At present, the city has about 20, 000 containers shipped to ROK via the port of Tianjin each year, which increases the cost of local enterprises, Huang said. He believes, along with the further growth of foreign investment - especially from ROK - in the city, demand for goods shipping to and from ROK will continue to increase. Therefore, the opening of the Qinhuangdao-Incheon shipping service will benefit Chinese and South Korean firms. He foresees, at the initial stage, 10, 000- to 15, 000-tonnage ships will be used for the shipping service. As part of the planned shipping co-operation between Qinhuangdao and Incheon, Huang said a 50-50 joint venture shipping company will be established by the two sides, and the Qinhuangdao Port Bureau will invest in the venture. At the newly developed South korean park, about 33.3 hectares of land will be put aside for the park at the initial stage, which will be developed to one square kilometre of land in the near future. The city has invited several dozen South Korean enterprises to send representatives to visit the city, investigate the investment environment and conduct business negotiations, said Li, adding that Beidaihe (a district of the city) is a well-known summer resort. Figures provided by the city's Information Office claim domestic and overseas investors signed 105 contracts and agreements with local enterprises at the trade fair, of which 32 contracts involved foreign investment, totalling US$102.7 million. The projects cover land development, infrastructure facility construction, high-technology introduction, agriculture and tourism. According to Li, Qinhuangdao, one of the coastal cities that opened for business to the outside world in the early 1980s, has approved more than 1, 200 foreign-funded projects, using US$1.7 billion of foreign investment. Sources: China Daily |
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