First
of all, I’d
like to
express our sincere thanks for your support to Weihai over the years
and for your
assistance in helping to bring information of our fair city to U.S. and other businesses and travellers. It’s my pleasure to further introduce Weihai in
July 2005 to you.
Harmoniously
developing economic society
In recent years,
facing the
new situation and more heated competition, we have been focusing our
attention
on three strategies, that we call the “three cards”: the first one is
environmental protection, the second one is opening up to the outside
world and
the third one is science/technology and talent, so as to achieve a
sustainable
development model. That is to say, the environment drives opening;
opening
drives development; development attracts talents; talent strengthens
science
and technology; science and technology upgrades our development level.
Focusing
first on
economic
development, the growth rate has been climbing. Over the past 18 years
since
the establishment of the city, the GDP of the whole city has surged 18
per cent
year-on-year. In 2004 the GDP total value reached 12.2 billion US
Dollars,
surpassing 4,900 US Dollars per capita and ranking our city 27th
in China in terms of the city’s comprehensive
competitive
power. Weihai is now one of the most dynamic and fastest growing cities
in North China.
As to the people’s
living
standard, the income level has continuously increased. In 2004, per
capita net
income of all peasants went up to 651 US Dollars, up 13.1 per cent and
ranking Wehai
first in Shandong Province. Per capita disposable incomes of urban
residents was
1,345 US Dollars, up 9 per cent and ranking Wehai third in
Shandong Province. Per capita
household savings of urban and rural residents is 1,925 USD, double
that of the
whole province.
Reflecting on
social
undertakings, we have achieved a lot. Weihai was awarded China’s first National Hygienic City, China’s first National Model City Group for
Environmental Protection, China’s first group of the best tourist cities, China’s National Garden City. Above all, Weihai
was awarded
twice the Dubai International Award for Best Practices for improving
living
environment by the U.N. In 2003, Weihai was awarded UN Habitat Scroll
of Honor.
Weihai is striving to become one of the
most livable cities and best cities for business in the world.
Improving urban
environment
In recent years,
adhering to
the principles of not big, not quick but best, Weihai has been striving
to
build a world model city and restructure the urban infrastructure at a
higher
level. In 2004, the urban area reached 62 square kilometers and the
rate of urbanization
was 50 per cent. The urban green covering rate went up to 43.5 per cent
and per
capita public green land was 17.5 square kilometers. The urban area has
basically achieved all needed infrastructure – roads, electricity, gas,
hot
water and heat supply. The treatment degree of waste gas, waste water,
and
industrial residue, the popularization degree of water-wash public
toilets and
garbage treatment are now in accordance with or exceed national
standards. We
mainly concentrate our efforts now on the following three aspects:
1. Planning
from a high starting point.
Holding planning as
the first
key of urban and rural construction, we have invited top-ranking
experts and
organizations to plan from high starting points and high levels. In
terms of
long-term planning, we insist on the concept of Big Weihai, including
taking
Weihai city proper and three sub central urban districts of Rongcheng,
Wendeng
and Rushan as the frame of our planning, taking coastlines and
interlinking
expanded highways and roads as the link, taking industrial parks,
scenic spots and
central towns as the joining elements, accelerating the connection
between sub
central cities and central cities, small towns and sub central cities,
villages
and small towns, building an integrative city framework and city group,
which
is closely connected and shares common facilities. Presently, we are
focusing
our attention on industrial relocation, economic development and
environmental
protection, accelerating the connection between Wendeng city proper and
Weihai
urban district, small towns and sub central cities so as to realize the
integrative growth of industrial layout, infrastructures,
eco-environment and
management.
2.
Building
Weihai based on high standards.
Insisting on the
concept of being
a model city, we have built a series of important engineering projects,
with
the goal of improving the urban comprehensive environment. Weihai has
three
national first grade ports. Sea lanes open up from Wehai to Korea, Japan and Hongkong. There are two international
airports
within one-hour driving time; international airline service between
Weihai Airport and Korea was also recently opened. Railway
transportation of
passengers and cargo reaches from Wehai to all locations in the
country. In
order to further improve the city’s environment, we have newly built
many parks
and introduced the project of airbus to Liugong Island, and started some reconstruction projects
such as the
development and reconstruction for the west of Weihai Park and the relocation of Weihai Shipyard. In
order to
upgrade the city’s coordination ability, we have newly built stadiums,
sports
training bases, one isolation hospital and Golden Bay Hospital in the Hi-tech Zone. Additionally, we have
also
relocated Weihai Vocational and Technical College and have extended some senior middle schools
and
common support facilities. Urban infrastructure such as power supply,
water
supply and sewage disposal facilities have been optimized.
3.
Managing with high efficiency
Sticking to the
concept of “
development and management should be paid equal attention”, and the
principles
of administering the city according to law and citizens interests, we
have been
actively advancing the reform of our urban management system. We have
worked
out lots of standard documents and guidelines such as Regulations on
Weihai
Urban Appearance & Environment, and The Management Methods of
Weihai Urban
Environmental Construction, to advance the whole society to commonly
participate in urban management and realize the standardization and
benefits of
proper urban management. According to the findings report issued by
Shandong
Statistics Bureau, Weihai citizens showed high satisfaction to our city
on the
issue of management and the rate of satisfaction ranks the first in
Shandong Province.
Further enlarged
opening
up
Wehai has unique
comparable
advantages in terms of opening up economically to outside
investment and business.
Regional
advantages. From a domestic
viewpoint, Weihai is located as a key
node of domestic traffic and communications. But from an international
viewpoint,
Weihai is situated in the forefront of connections with Northeast Asia and is located beside the City Corridor of
Asia
Pacific, enjoying a special geographical location. Therefore, it is
destined to
become an important port city for China to link with the Asia Pacific area and the
world. Wehai is the closest place
geographically to Korea and Japan and this proximity has led to much
investment here by
both countries.
Environmental
advantages. Weihai is endowed
with a beautiful environment and abundant
tourism resources. We have excellent environments for investment and
living. In
2003 Weihai was awarded the UN Habitat Scroll of Honor. The effect of
unique
city branding under the slogan of “Living in Weihai, Investing in
Weihai and
Succeeding in Weihai” has been further emphasized. More
and more people, goods, capitals and
information resources will be gathered in Weihai.
Industrial
advantages. Being a new
industrial city, Weihai has already
established a comprehensive manufacturing range of companies and
services.
Weihai is an important domestic manufacturing base of woodworking
machinery,
mini type printing machines, building tower cranes, aerial surface
equipments,
tires, seafood and pharmaceuticals, computer peripheral equipments,
communication cables, carpets, fishing tackles and shoes. All of these
fields act
as both supporting industries and as attractions for international
manufacturing relocation.
Talent advantages. There are many investment platforms in
Weihai. We
have branches of two famous universities –
Shandong University and Harbin Institute of Technology as well
as a large
scale vocational and technical college. More than 20,000 high quality
laborers
are trained every year, the labor productivity has ranked first in
Shandong Province for more than ten years.
Thanks to these
advantages,
we always give priority to opening up to outside business and
investment and
firmly grasping the opportunities created by China’s entry into the WTO
and recent
shifts in world industrial relocation that have brought many new
factories to
China. We have followed the opening strategy of focusing on South Korea and Japan, expanding contacts and investment with Hong Kong and Taiwan and exploring with Europe
and American companies potential for investment and manufacturing. Our open economy has been growing rapidly and
steadily. Currently, Weihai has established economic and trade
cooperation
relationships with over 160 countries and regions. There are more than
4700
foreign enterprises that have invested in Weihai which includes eight
top 500
world enterprises such as Samsung, Mitsubishi, Merrill Lynch and
Invensys.
Total actual
foreign
investment totals over 5 billion USD of which Korean investment
accounts for
60%. Last year total import and export
value reached 5.6 billion USD. Korea has become the biggest cooperative partner
of Weihai.
Up to now, there are more than 10,000 Korean nationals living and doing
business in Weihai perennially and over 2500 Korean invested
enterprises
located in Weihai. Total investment for these Korean companies adds up
to 2.8
billion USD. Weihai has become an
important “bridgehead” for cooperation between China and Korea.
In terms of opening
up to
other areas of China and inter-linkage domestically, Weihai
extensively introduces capital,
technologies and talent and provides wide development platforms for all
investors. Last year the actual domestic investment amounted to 15.46
billion
Yuan and increased by 60.2%. Weihai has become one of the hottest spots
for
investment in China.
Opening up has
created an inexhaustible
engine for Weihai’s continued development. It has achieved Weihai’s
past, is
controlling Weihai’s today and will determine Weihai’s future. In the
future,
we will further improve the extent of opening up of all sectors.
Rapid growth of
county-level economies
Weihai has
jurisdiction over
three county-level cities of Rongcheng, Wendeng and Rushan. All of them
are on
the list of China’s National Model Cities for environmental protection and also known
as China’s outstanding tourist cities. The
contribution rate
of county-level economies in many indexes to the whole city reached
approximately
80 per cent. In 2004, GDP and local revenue of the three cities
accounted for
72 per cent and 61 per cent of that of Weihai City respectively, total volume of retail sales
of social
consumer goods and fixed investments accounted for 64 per cent and 68
per cent
of that of Weihai City respectively. The three cities are key to
Weihai City and help to determine the whole level of
economic
development in Weihai City.
Rongcheng City ranks first in Shandong Province in terms of comprehensive economic strength.
It’s a
big agricultural county and the No. 1 fishery county in China. Its fishery economy ranks first among
counties and county-
level cities in China and has done so for 20 years.
Rongcheng City is a national demonstration area for marine
resources
comprehensive development and a national demonstration location for
government
approved scientific ocean farming. Being a coastal open city, Rongcheng
is
endowed with the right by the state to sign contracts with other
countries and
regions for economic and technological cooperation. There are five
national
first and second grade open ports and operating sections in Rongcheng.
Service
and management organizations involving foreign elements such as the
customs,
entry-exit inspection and quarantine, border inspection and foreign
investment
service center have been set up. Rongcheng
has become a hot area for foreign investment.
Wendeng has
prominent
advantages in its industries. It is powerful in five industries
including home
textile & leather, auto & parts, machinery processing,
electronics
& communication and bio-resources processing. Ten highly successful
enterprises such as Crank & Shaft, Hongan and Weida are at the top
of the list
in their respective industrial groups in China. Wendeng is the export base for drawn works
in China, its annual production has reaches 300
million
pieces/sets and the export volume accounts for 1/7 th of the total in
all of China in this particular sector. Wendeng was named
“China famous city for arts and crafts and home
textiles”.
Centering on forging the brand of “Living in Weihai, Shopping in
Wendeng”,
Wendeng has set up a series of projects such as Yiwu wholesale market
for small
commodities and “Window on Korea”. Wendeng has become a key regional trade
and
logistic center.
Rushan is the
famous home of
fruit and gold in China. Its gold output annually ranks fifth in China and annual output of fresh and dry fruit
totals over
200,000 tons. Rushan is the export oriented agricultural demonstration
area in Shandong Province. Rushan is abundant with tourist resources
and enjoys
a lot of scenic spots such as Silver Beach Tourism & Vacation Zone,
Juyushan National Forest Park and Darushan Beauty Spot. It is an ideal
place
for tourism, recuperation and vacation.
Three
manufacturing bases
with huge potential.
In order to grasp the
opportunities of
relocating international
industries, Shandong Province
has decided to build Shandong Peninsula Manufacturing Base, with
Weihai
as one of the key cities. Therefore, we are trying to build Weihai into
a
global manufacturing base, holiday and tourism resort zone and
agriculture and
by-products export and processing center.
Manufacturing
Base. Weihai has already
established a comprehensive
manufacturing infrastructure. There are more than 14,800 factories,
plants and
2000 kinds of main products produced in Weihai. Weihai is the largest
manufacturing base of fishing tackle, tires, macromolecular products,
woodworking machinery and carpets, as well as an important production
base of
auto parts & components and glass. There are over 50 well-known
brands in
Weihai such as Gold Monkey, Huayu, Shanhua, Haima, Gongyou, Chengshan
and
Tri-angles. In order to take full advantages of these industries and
establish a
more competitive industrial system, we have a plan to encourage
building five
industrial groups including transportation equipments, electronics
&
information, mechanical & electronic tools, textile & light
industries,
and food and pharmaceuticals. We have drawn up and issued extensive
preferential policies in terms of land use, taxation, auxiliary
infrastructure
and relevant services, to encourage and support the cooperation between
enterprises from home and abroad.
Holiday & tourism resort base. Weihai is abundant in tourism resources and
has almost
all 74 kinds of tourism activities found in China. Last year 8.55 million tourists from home
and abroad
visited Weihai. In order to quicken the development of our holiday
economy, we
have drawn up “The Overall Plan for Development of Weihai Tourism
Industry” and
have put forward a concept of “one line with six big sections”. One
line is a one
thousand kilometer “happy coastline” and six sections include central
city,
seashore ecology, fisher folk-custom, thermal spring recuperation,
holiday and
traditional cultures. Meanwhile, we are actively developing some new
types of
tourism and quickening the construction of some key projects such as
Liugong
Island Airbus, yacht club and the big world of thermal spring. We are
working
hard to forge some unique tourism brands and to create new advantages
for
tourism development.
Agriculture and
by-products & seafood export and processing base. The coastline of Weihai is about 1000
kilometers and
accounts for 1/3 of that in Shandong Province. Weihai is the largest fishery production
center in China. Its aquatic products output has ranked
first for
many years among China’s prefecture-level cities. Last year the
output of aquatic products
was 2.44 million tons and per capita possession approached one ton. In
order to
accelerate the construction of export & processing facilities, we
are
actively adjusting the marine industrial structure, and devoting major
efforts
to develop ocean fishing, sea farming and aquatic products processing.
At
present, there are 190 ocean fishing boats in Weihai. Some agricultural
processing enterprises such as Homey, Zhonglu Fruit Juice and Hualong
Foods companies
have been successfully listed on the stock exchange. The export volume
of
aquatic products was 400 million USD. The export and processing of
agricultural
products has become the “new breakthrough point” of Weihai’s economic
growth.
China has a saying
“seeing is believing” which is
also a saying shared by many other cultures.
Come see Wehai – Wehai will convince you.
