Overseas investment and international cooperation have given a new impetus to the growth of high-tech industries in the coastal Shandong Province, said officials in charge of foreign trade and economic cooperation in Jinan.
The province's high-tech manufacturing sector has absorbed some US$325 million of contractual overseas investment since the beginning of this year, up 54.8 percent per annum.
Overseas investment in computer application and biotech sectors have reached US$32.81 million and US$32.17 million respectively, up 430 percent and 158 percent per annum.
By the end of June, 85 transnational corporations had invested in 187 projects in Shandong, bringing some US$3.55 billion of contractual overseas investment to the machinery, automobile, electronics, power, building material, textile, chemical and communication sectors.
To date, transnational corporations have set up five research and development centers in Shandong, which have improved the quality of high-tech products and boosted the local economy.
Meanwhile, high-tech industrial development zones across the province have carried out extensive cooperation with world renowned enterprises during the past five years. Some 300 projects have been launched, which involve over US$10 million of overseas investment.
Shandong, a major commercial province on the east coast, has reported fast growth in high-tech manufacturing, software development, new material and biotech sectors.
(Xinhua News Agency 10/15/2001)
