Shandong seeks to draw HK investors
For the ninth consecutive year, Shandong — the northern province which is best known as the home of Confucius — is launching Shandong Week in Hong Kong to explore new opportunities for cooperation between the two regions.
A projects introduction roadshow at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on Tuesday saw more than 80 Shandong and Hong Kong enterprises sign agreements, deepening cooperation in a wide range of sectors including modern finance, information industry, highend equipment manufacturing, medicine and healthcare.
Shandong Governor Gong Zheng said at the event that the second-most populous province of China, with a population of nearly 100 million, presented prime opportunities to Hong Kong investors as the country reformed its supply chain and dedicated itself to improving the quality and efficiency of the economy.
“(Last year) our GDP reached 6.7 trillion yuan ($1 trillion), ranked third among all the provinces on the Chinese mainland. More importantly, we have reaped great fruits from industrial structure optimization; in the first half of this year, valued added by tertiary industry registered 1.72 trillion yuan, contributing 49.2 percent of the total GDP. ”
As one of the mainland’s major agricultural production bases, Shandong is known for the production of grains, fruits and vegetables, oil crops, aquatic products and animal by-products.
Zhang Xinwen, the development and reform commission director in Shandong province, told the roadshow Shandong is ready to move up the value chain, so growth was driven more by technology and innovation. The government was set to focus on 10 key industries including highend equipment manufacturing, chemical industry, materials industry, maritime economy, modern agriculture and healthcare.
To upgrade the economy, Gong said Shandong has launched more than 600 projects valued at 3.8 trillion yuan. Officials introduced 109 projects to Hong Kong investors at Shandong Week this year.
He appealed to Hong Kong enterprises to make their presence felt at this year’s Shandong Week to let them explore new investment opportunities.
For the past five years, Shandong has maintained a GDP growth rate of about 7.5 percent. The governor estimated that by 2020 Shandong’s GDP would reach 9 trillion yuan and GDP per capita would hit $15,000, reaching the standard of highincome countries.
Hong Kong Trade Development Council figures show Hong Kong is the largest source of overseas direct investment in Shandong.
As of June there were 18,345 Hong Kong-funded companies approved in Shandong, with investment amounting to $79.61 billion. Among 101 overseas-listed companies in Shandong, 46 are listed in Hong Kong, and had raised 89.3 billion yuan in capital.
(Last year) our (Shandong’s) GDP reached 6.7 trillion yuan ($1 trillion), ranked third among all the provinces on the Chinese mainland.”
governor of Shandong province