Dalian will start building an industrial park on Changxing
Island in cooperation with Singapore later this month, Mayor Xia
Deren has said.
The venture in the port city of northeast China's Liaoning
Province will be the second for Singapore in China. The first was
the Suzhou Industrial Park in east China's Jiangsu Province.
Changxing
Island
Jurong International, a Singapore company that specializes in
industrial and urban planning, will help Dalian design the
park.
"We hope we can take advantage of Jurong's international and
rich management experience to build an excellent industrial park,"
Xia said during a group interview in Beijing. Also a deputy of the
National People's Congress (NPC), Xia is in Beijing to attend the
annual session of the country's top legislature that ends on
Friday.
Dalian officials will undergo training in the first part of the
project, which will begin when Xia visits Singapore after the NPC
session, he said. The first group will comprise 40 officials.
The greatest gain for Suzhou in its cooperation with Singapore
was the training that more than 100 civil servants received in the
city state. "These officials played a crucial role in Suzhou's
economic success, and we want to draw upon the Jinagsu city's
experience."
Outsourcing destination?
Dalian's economy used to rely a great deal on heavy industries
such as shipbuilding and chemicals. But for the past decade it has
been trying to develop sectors such as finance and information
industry (IT) in it's modernization bid.
In recent years, the city has become a major outsourcing
destination, particularly for software, for firms based in Japan
and the Republic of Korea.
The additional revenue generated by companies engaged in
outsourcing has been growing at an average annual rate of 50
percent, reaching 8 billion yuan (US$1 billion) last year. And the
growth is expected to keep up its momentum in the coming years, Xia
said.
What's more, such companies today employ about 60,000 people and
have created 300,000 more jobs in related industries, he said.
'Summer Davos Summit'
Dalian will get another chance in September to showcase its
achievements when the Switzerland-based World Economic Forum holds
its first Annual Meeting of New Champions there.
The meeting -- dubbed the "Summer Davos Summit" -- in the scenic
city, regarded as one of the most livable cities in China, is
expected to attract companies undergoing rapid growth, powered by
innovation, and leading firms with global reach.
"We are keen to welcome executives of top global companies to
see our city," Xia said.
(China Daily March 12, 2007)
