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Hubei eyes Beijing for business and investment

By Rong Xiandong (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-03-23 18:25

Central China's Hubei province is striving to attract business and investment from the Chinese capital Beijing to promote the province's economic growth and boost employment, as part of the country's nationwide efforts to jumpstart investment and boost domestic demand amid the current world financial turmoil.

As the first key step to strengthen cooperation with Beijing, Hubei province is scheduled to hold its first ever investment and trade fair in Beijing on March 24-25 to lure business and investment from the Chinese capital.

Tian Chengzhong (C), vice governor of Hubei, speaks at a press conference on the first ever Hubei-Beijing investment and trade fair in Beijing on March 23, 2009. [chinadaily.com.cn]

"We attach great importance to developing long-term and widespread cooperative ties with Beijing and other cities in the Bohai Bay area," said Tian Chengzhong, vice governor of Hubei, at a press conference in Beijing on March 23.

The Bohai rim in North China, which is centered on Beijing and also covers China's major industrial city Tianjin, is one of China's three leading economic zones. The other two zones are the Yangtze River Delta in East China and the Pearl River Delta in South China.

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"We hope to facilitate the industrial and capital transfer from Beijing to Hubei through this trade fair," Tian said, adding that the fair mainly targets centrally administered State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and global top 500 multinational companies in Beijing.

Industrial transfer is regarded as an important format to realize coordinated and balanced development between different regions of China. The Chinese government has made it an important strategic task to bridge the gap between developed regions, mainly the Bohai rim, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta, and less developed regions like the central and western parts of the country.

The task is emphasized in the government work report delivered by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in March 2009 and the report delivered by Chinese President Hu Jintao at the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2007.

Hubei province, with abundant natural resources, developed transportation facilities and a huge pool of talents from research institutes and colleges, wants to lure the SOEs and transnational companies to move their factories from Beijing to the province as the Chinese capital is focusing on developing modern service industries as well as research and development.

The Chinese capital is also known for its "headquarters economy" as many multinational companies and domestic companies have established the headquarters for their Asia-Pacific and China operations in the metropolis.

"We bring here a total of 147 key projects for potential investors, mainly in the mechanical and auto parts, photoelectron, infrastructure, environmental and logistics industries," said the official.

Among the projects, 30 need an investment of at least US$100 million apiece, and 21 involve an investment of US$50-100 million each.

The spreading world financial crisis has also taken its toll on inland Hubei province, although the impact is less than that on export-driven coastal areas, according to the vice governor.

Hubei province expects to achieve a 10 percent growth in its gross domestic product in 2009, down from the 13.4 percent for 2008, taking into account the possible impact of the world economic crisis, the official said.

Worse still, the province is facing increased pressure to ensure employment as many migrant workers come back after losing their jobs in factories in coastal areas.

At least one million migrant workers had returned to Hubei after they got the sack in the coastal cities as China's exports hit the snag, he said.

Across China, more than 20 million migrant workers have become jobless as the worst global crisis since the 1930s continues to bite, according to government data.

To attain the goal of eight percent economic growth for 2009 and promote employment, a top issue for the government, China is ready to put forward new stimulus package at any time if needed, said Premier Wen Jiabao during the annual parliamentary sessions earlier this month, on top of the 4 trillion yuan (US$586 billion) stimulus plan announced last year.