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Sponsored by Hunan provincial government and China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), a marketing exercise was held yesterday in Beijing to promote the European (Hunan) Industrial Park. Officially approved on November 9, 2005, the Industrial Park is located in Zhuzhou, a key transportation hub in South China, and one of the most developed cities in Hunan. Covering an area of 20 square kilometers the Park is the only one in central and west China which is especially geared to European investors. Some 200 participants attended the marketing exercise including officials from foreign embassies, representatives from international business chambers in China, domestic and foreign company representatives, senior figures from relevant government departments, individuals with expertise in this area of business and scholars. The Park is to focus on the development of new materials, the advanced manufacturing industry, bio-medicine, information technology and other associated areas of business. The Park will not only enjoy all the preferential policies for national hi-tech development zones and the supporting guidelines for the middle area of China. It will also have special preferential policies in relation to land supply, income taxes, financial arrangements, project approval, company registration and the like according to the marketing exercise. The aim is for the Park to become a superb example of this type of initiative with an excellent, low cost investment environment and highly efficient operations. "The launch of this Park is a landmark event between Hunan and European countries in their economic exchanges and cooperation," said Zhou Bohua, governor of Hunan. Every year over the past few years around 50 European companies come to Hunan for business talks and about 140 of them have invested in Hunan. Europe is the second largest trading partner of Hunan in terms of exports and number one for imports. The annual foreign trade value between Hunan and Europe is around US$1 billion and the growth rate has averaged 10 percent annually. With a lot of European companies settling in Hunan, the province now aims to move up a stage from general business to specialized areas which are attracted by the availability of such parks, said Zhou. He also pointed out that the establishment of such parks is also in accordance with the strategy of the central government to further develop the central region of China. Central China is an excellent investment destination, Zhou said. Hunan boasts rich natural resources. Forest coverage in the province is around 55 percent and the hydropower reserves amount to 15.32 million kilowatts. Quite remarkably among the 160 or so minerals already discovered in the world 141 have been found in Hunan. With an excellent development potential Hunan is an area promising opportunities for domestic and foreign investors alike. The average GDP growth rate over the past five years was 11.6 percent. During this period a number of key infrastructure projects in the fields of transportation, power generation, city construction were completed, according to the governor. "Apart from big companies a priority is to be given to small and medium-sized firms from Europe, said Zhou. “We need to have a lot of SMEs to form a cluster of businesses to support the development of Hunan," he said. Wan Jifei, chairman of CCPIT, said, "I am convinced that with our advantages in resources, location, policies and with the strong backing of the provincial government the Park will become an ideal investment location and will produce an impact on neighboring provinces -- the pan-Pearl River Delta and even the Yangtze River Delta." Franz Jessen, deputy head of the European Commission Delegation to China, also attended the marketing exercise. "China has undergone an economic transformation that has significantly improved living standards across the country. In this way it has become a focal point of international media attention and foreign investment," he said. "In the eyes of the European Union, the Hunan Province is a region of opportunity. The workforce is advanced in terms of education, talent and dedication. The infrastructure is well established and natural resources are plenty. It is clear that new development policies for the central and western provinces have ushered in an era of bright prospects for Hunan," said Jessen. (China.org.cn by staff reporter Yuan Fang, March 16, 2006)
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