Despite that recent years saw troublesome relations between China and Japan now and then, it has not affected Japanese enterprises which have kept on investing in Qingdao, an old coastal city in east China's Shandong Province, said Qingdao Vice Mayor Yu Chong on Saturday at a press conference.

"On the contrary, the two governments should make full use of local economic cooperation to improve political climate," Yu emphasized.

"Being a market-orientated country, Japan may not neglect a fact that China has a big market and cheap labors," Yu said. "I am sure that with a sound investment climate, Japanese entrepreneurs will continuously invest in Qingdao."

Qingdao is a beautiful city on southern coast of Shandong Province, located near the Yellow Sea and the Jiaozhou Bay. It is one of the popular places in the country where Japanese enterprises are like to put their investment in for quite a long time.

The mayor attributes the Japanese active investment in Qingdao to geological location, mutual needs - Qingdao needs foreign capital and advanced technology while Japanese enterprises need cheap labors and processing and manufacturing factories. A series of government policies have been made in recent years to speed up local economic development thus enabling Qingdao to be more attractive for foreign investment.
 
According to the vice mayor, in recent years, the majority of the Japanese enterprises have found home in the Qingdao Economic and Development Zone, which is well-equipped and only 500-600 meters away from the Qingdao Harbor.

"With more and more Japanese enterprises investing in Qingdao, the city is paying more attention to improving its services for them," Yu said. "Actually, a special service system has been set up for Japanese investors, which include personnel introduction, training and banking service. In addition, the city has also built schools, medical facilities and residential areas for Japanese investors so as to make them feel at home."

Yu told the press that according to the development strategy of the city, priorities of investment would be given to electronic appliances, petrol chemistry, shipbuilding, auto-making, beverage and textile industry.

(China.org.cn by Unisumoon, September 20, 2004)