Tianjin Mayor Dai Xianglong said in Hong Kong on Tuesday that his city welcomes overseas investment in Tianjin New Coastal District -- a state level new development zone.

He said at the opening of the "Hong Kong-Tianjin Week" that the current activity is designed to attract overseas investment in dozens of projects of the new coastal district.

He said, with a total investment of US$3.2 billion, the 30 projects cover container port construction, logistics, property, chemical and environmental protection projects, as well as leisure and travel industry projects.

The mayor said the major infrastructure project under construction included Beijing-Tianjin express railway, Tianjin international airport expansion and some other projects.

He said Hong Kong has advantages in port construction and management, financial service and other service industries, the strengthening of ties between Tianjin and Hong Kong will benefit both sides.

Dai said, the newly adopted 11th Five-Year Plan of the central government has attached importance to the development of the Tianjin New Coastal District and the development of the district is expected to push forward to the regional development.

Dai stressed that the development of the new zone requires domestic and overseas investment. He said, the second largest share holder of the Bohai Bank, which was established at the end of last year, is the Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation.

By the end of the February, Tianjin has registered 5,786 Hong Kong invested ventures, accounting for 31 percent of all overseas ventures in Tianjin.

(Xinhua News Agency May 10, 2006)