Fujian provincial government will give top priority to developing an economic zone along the western coast of the Taiwan Straits this year, said Huang Xiaojing, governor of the province.
Huang, also chairman of China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT), is expecting to attract more offshore investment to develop the zone at the coming CIFIT.
CIFIT is an annual international trade and investment event held in September in Xiamen, a coastal city of the province.
The zone will play an increasingly important role in Fujian's economic development in the following years, according to Huang.
Located in the coastal area of Fujian Province, the zone connects the mainland and Taiwan Island, as well as the prosperous Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta, the two most important economic powerhouses on the Chinese mainland.
It will help Fujian strengthen its importance as an industrial base and attract more overseas investment, Huang said.
The zone includes major cities and counties in Fujian's coastal areas.
The central government has also pinned much hope on the zone's future development.
President Hu Jintao visited the zone earlier this year, saying the central government supports the development of the zone.
Hu urged the zone to take even bolder steps in developing its economy, using overseas investment and expanding infrastructural facility construction.
To attract more overseas investors, Governor Huang promised to offer even more business and investment opportunities to both overseas and domestic business people at the coming CIFIT, one of the country's most important trade and investment events.
The Fujian provincial government has prepared a total of 19,790 projects to seek overseas investment at the CIFIT, 3,496 more than the previous fair.
Most of the projects are involved in finance, infrastructural facilities, insurance, agriculture, tourism, garment production, service, automobiles, power, energy, and new and high-tech industries that are in great demand in Fujian.
Huang hopes more big international companies and groups from America, Europe and East Asia can compete with Taiwanese investors to set up overseas-funded companies, joint ventures and subsidiaries in the zone in the wake of CIFIT.
Currently, at least 150 foreign companies plan to attend the coming CIFIT and have showed their interest in joining hands in the construction of the zone.
Fujian provincial government will try to build a good platform for foreign investors to invest and do business in Fujian via CIFIT, Huang said.
To help attract more foreign investment, Fujian provincial government has decided to invest a large sum of money to further improve the province's investment climate and upgrade Fujian's infrastructural facilities in the near future.
In addition to the Wenzhou-Fuzhou railway and Fuzhou-Xiamen railway, which have begun construction, the province will try to start construction of Xiangtang-Putian railway, Longyan-Xiamen railway and Xiamen-Shenzhen railway later this year, linking Fujian to neighbouring provinces of Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Guangdong.
Meanwhile, the Shantou-Zhangzhou, Meizhou-Yongding and Ningde-Shangrao expressways will also be constructed in the following months to help expand economic ties between Fujian and other provinces and regions on the mainland.
Fujian has 1,630 kilometres of railways, which have been in service.
Fujian has achieved sustainable economic development over the past few years. The province's gross domestic product reached more than 650 billion yuan (US$81.25 billion) in 2005, increasing by 11.3 per cent year-on-year.
Taiwanese investment has made up a large part of the province's investment over the past few decades.
Currently more than 1 million Taiwanese residents live in Fujian Province.
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