Welcome to QETDZ

Qinhuangdao is situated in the northeast of Hebei Province at the very heart of the “Bohai-Rim Economic Circle”, the most dynamic economic district in China, where the northern and northeastern economic zones meet. The city is bounded to the south by the Bohai Sea, to the north by the Yanshan Mountains, to the east by the Liaoning Province, and to the west by Beijing and Tianjin.

Qinhuangdao is the only Chinese city to be named after an emperor, i.e., the First Emperor of Qin (Qin-huang for short) Dynasty. As an important port city and newly-fledged industrial city in northern China, it was officially selected as one of the first Open Coastal Cities in 1984. With a total area of 7,812 square kilometers and a total population of 2.83 million (806,000 living in the downtown area), Qinhuangdao is divided into Haigang District, Beidaihe District, Shanhaiguan District, Funing County, Changli County, Lulong County, Qinglong Manchu Autonomous County and Qinhuangdao Economic & Technological Development Zone (QETDZ for short).

The QETDZ was approved by the State Council in 1984 to become one of China’s first—and the only one in the Hebei Province—state-level economic and technological development zones. Qinhuangdao is located in the heart of the rapidly-growing “Bohai-Rim Economic Circle”, within easy reach of both Beijing (280km) and Tianjin (245km). It is in Qinhuangdao that the northern China economic zone adjoins its northeastern counterpart. Some 365km away from Shenyang (capital city of the neighboring Liaoning Province), the QETDZ boasts a planned administrative area of 56.72 square kilometers, and it is divided into eastern and western sections, with the former standing to the east of Laolongtou (Old Dragon Head, Shanhaiguan), the starting point of the Great Wall of China, and the latter being situated adjacent to Beidaihe, a renowned summer resort in China. The coastline of the QETDZ runs for six kilometers, outlining a vast expanse of sea area of 23.81 square kilometers.

During the past 20 years or so, under the wise leadership of the Qinhuangdao Municipality , the QETDZ has adhered to a development strategy defined as “three mainstays, two focuses and one promotion” and a “development—construction—profit” approach to growth management, characterized by “centralized planning, phased implementation and spiral development". Having undergone a series of development stages, including infrastructure construction, initial establishment, expansion, “re-launch” and “leapfrog development”, the QETDZ has achieved substantially improved economic performance, thus making it an increasingly important and the most dynamic contributor to the local economy. It is now in the process of building towards a modernized, prosperous, vigorous, beautifully-landscaped and fully-equipped industrial park. Moreover, the QETDZ serves as a showpiece of Qinhuangdao’s economic achievements, a “role model” for others to follow. In 2008, the General Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) of the QETDZ reached RMB 15.075 billion, marking an increase in its significance in the overall regional economy (of Qinhuangdao) from 8% in 2000 to 18.6%; core business income of QETDZ enterprises above designated scale (referring to industrial enterprises with an annual sales income of over RMB 5 million) reached RMB 46.58 billion, accounting for 45.1% of the total core business revenue of the city; contracted foreign investment at the QETDZ totaled 181 million USD, accounting for45.1% of that of the city; an aggregate of RMB 5.85 billion investment from domestic sources has been reported by the QETDZ, accounting for 88.8% of the total domestic investments received by the city.

In terms of infrastructure construction, relevant efforts at the QETDZ have been guided by a strategic principle described as “highly-ambitious planning, highly-intensive development, high-standard supporting facilities and highly-efficient management”, concentrating on the comprehensiveness of infrastructural facilities and functionally-oriented services. As a result, the local infrastructure system has been constantly developed up to a very high standard. During the 10th “Five-Year Plan” period, an aggregate of over RMB 1 billion has been invested in road transport, water and power supply, sewage system and heating facilities, resulting in newly-built roads of over 50km in total length. At the western section of the QETDZ, the road traffic network takes the Huanghe Avenue as its axis and the Tianshan Road as the secondary axis, and a road framework, with the Beijing Avenue serving as the trunk line, has also been completed at the eastern section. In an effort to improve the local Landscape and culture, a number of urban projects with regional excellence have been completed at the QETDZ. They include a public square, a central square dedicated to investment-related services, the Xiangyuan Garden and the Forest Sports Park, as a result of which the development zone is designated as the first National ISO14000 Demonstrative Site in Hebei and a Model City for Environment Protection. In 2007, the green lands occupying ratio of the built-up areas is 42.31%, and the average public green land per capita is 14 square meters. In the meantime, effective efforts have also been made to further develop the producer services industry (dominated by transportation and communications, regional logistics, foreign trade, financial insurance and information services) and consumer services industry (dominated by real estate, hospitality and catering and public entertainment). The number of service agencies, e.g. customs brokers, notary offices, law and accounting firms, has increased on a constant basis. So has that of public facilities, e.g. telecommunication branches and public transport services, and commercial and catering facilities, etc. Developments mentioned above have all contributed to a markedly improved brand image of the QETDZ among Chinese as well as overseas investors.

“one-stop” project promotion and approval service system, “all-round” project construction service system, and “regularized” service system for companies in operation have shaped up“Attracting investors with sincerity and credibility, facilitating their business operations with quality services, and satisfying their long-term needs with consistent policies”. This has remained—and will continue to be—an overriding principle for all government services carried out at the QETDZ. In a quest to create a favorable investment environment which is fully compatible with common practices in the global market, government services, along with relevant policies, are subject to regular reviews so that they can be adapted to better suit the actual needs of the clients. At present, government services at the QETDZ are characterized by: a “one-stop” project promotion and approval service system; an “all-inclusive” project construction service system and; a “routinized” service system for companies which have already come into operation. Three measures have been vigorously implemented at the QETDZ to ensure the high standard of services: a) “pre- commitment” policy (i.e. the quality of services are monitored by means of written promises from the service provider); b) “service deadline” policy (i.e., all applications must be completed within a specified time limit); c) “full representation” policy (i.e., the investors do not need to go through the application procedures all by themselves, but QETDZ staff will act as their agents instead throughout the application processes). In early 2002, municipal-level administrative authority to approve projects was delegated to the QETDZ by the Qinhuangdao Municipality, leading to the formation of an internal operation and service mechanism characterized by centralized decision-making, fully-enclosed management and high-quality, efficient services. During the Sino-Overseas CEO Roundtable Meeting held in late 2007, the QETDZ was elected as one of the “Best Development Zones for Transnational Investors”.

Apart from government services, the status of the QETDZ as a carrier and platform for business projects has also been constantly upgraded. In September 2003, Qinhuangdao Export Processing Zone came into full operation after it was officially approved jointly by eight ministries and commissions, including the General Administration of Customs. At the end of 2008, the approval of the State Council granted the Processing Zone with bonded logistics and other functions that provides further incentives and a better platform to logistics business. Yanshan University Science Park became the first national university science park in the Hebei Province following its approval by a panel of designated specialists; in 2004, Software Industrial Base of Hebei Province (Qinhuangdao) was officially endorsed by the assessment committee jointly appointed by Hebei Information Industry Department and Hebei Planning Commission and the construction project was subsequently launched; QETDZ High-Tech Innovation Service Center was promoted to become a state-level service center following its successful approval by the Ministry of Science and Technology in January 2005. Therefore, the QETDZ is widely recognized as one of the few favorably-endowed development zones in China integrating “format" services with strong government support (which is ensured by the fact that it is a national development zone and is home to many major state/province-level establishments as have been pointed out above). With local hi-tech industry in full swing, we have signed a contract with the Institute of Computing Science, Chinese Academy of Science (CAS), which chose the QETDZ as the venue to build its Qinhuangdao branch. Thus far, a hi-tech industry cluster has taken shape at the QETDZ, highlighting leading industries such as electronic informationization, new building materials, electromechanical engineering, biological and environmental technologies. On Oct. 16, the first “China Qinhuangdao International Data Forum” was successfully held, which was attended by officials from state ministries and provincial departments, foreign embassies in China, and companies representatives. It received much attention from data business world. At the same time, “Qinhuangdao Data Industrial Base” was officially opened. Till now, Qinhuangdao Development zone has become one of the few development zones in China that owns an integration of both incentive policies and platform of a state-level development zone, export processing zone, university high-tech park, high-tech innovation service center and provincial level industrial base in one.

As regards investment attraction, an objective and locally-oriented approach has been adopted, taking into full account our unique geographical, industrial, logistic and human resources advantages. Full-scale, industry-specific and well-targeted investment attraction operations have been carried forward based on an accurate understanding of the functional aspects of the QETDZ. By the end of 2008, a total of 5255 projects have been approved by the QETDZ. Of them, 664 were invested by overseas enterprises, resulting in a total investment of US$4.99 billion, of which US$3.1 billion are of a contractual nature and US$1.84 billion has already been paid. Projects funded by domestic enterprises totaled 4591, representing an actual investment of RMB30.22 billion. Investors so far attracted include many Fortune Top 500 enterprises, transnational corporations and well-known Chinese companies, including GE , Alcoa , ADM, Demag , WILO, KHS, TI Automotive , Bondi , LG , POSCO, Asahi , Itochu , Chia Tai , wilmar international , Foxconn , Wan Chi , China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC), COFCO, China National Petroleum Corp, COSCO, CSSC, Shougang Group, Harbin Power Equipment, Tianwei Group and China Yaohua Glass Group Corporation from 35 countries and regions worldwide, such as USA, UK, Germany, Japan, Australia, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan, etc. At present, burgeoning localized industries at the QETDZ include bioengineering and informationization, cereals oil and food processing, automobile parts, major equipment manufacturing, metal rolling and glass building production. Thanks to an increasingly noticeable cluster effect, the numerous local industries are all gathering speed and momentum for future success.

Our development strategy for the future defines the QETDZ as follows: a showpiece for foreign trade at the Bohai-Rim region; a highly advanced production and processing base for surrounding metropolitan cities, e.g. Beijing and Tianjin; an R&D and pilot production base for hi-tech enterprises; an outsourcing service provider for the high-value-added service industry; a key regional logistic center; a showcase for cyclic economy; a multi-function/purpose industrial zone characterized by prosperity and social stability. From an industrial structural perspective, hi-tech and micro-technology industries (represented by technology-intensive enterprises and research institutions, etc.) are prioritized in the western section of the QETDZ, owing to its highly developed industrial infrastructure with fully-equipped supporting facilities, while the eastern section is selected for the development of local heavy industries, modern logistics and large equipment manufacturing (represented by port-based equipment manufacturers, food processors and logistic companies, etc), as a reflection of the port and export orientation of its economic setup.

It is expected that, by the end of 11th “Five-Year Plan” period, key economic indicators of the QETDZ will contribute more significantly to the local economy, with a GDP totaling RMB 26 billion and the sales income in the industrial sector growing to RMB 85 billion, contributing to a fiscal revenue of RMB 2.3 billion. All these will definitely have a greater positive effect on the development of Qinhuangdao into a prosperous and socially-harmonious city of remarkable housing, entrepreneurship and tourism excellence, a paradise for investors!