Fuzhou - the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province - has brought an enormous "gift" for Hong Kong, with some 75 projects on offer for local investors.

Top Fujian provincial leaders have been in the city heading an investment promotion drive, briefing local government officials and businessmen on what golden opportunities Fuzhou can offer and hailing the "great partnership" between Fuzhou and the SAR in the past few years.

At an investment gathering in Wan Chai on Monday, Yang Yue, a member of Standing Committee of Fujian Provincial Party Committee and secretary of the Fuzhou Municipal Party Committee, noted that Hong Kong is already Fuzhou's major trading partner, with total import-export trade between the two cities reaching $1.19 billion in the first 10 months of this year.

Hong Kong is also Fuzhou's major source of foreign investment.

So far, some 4,876 Hong Kong enterprises have been doing business in Fuzhou, with total investment hitting $23 billion and accounting for more than half of Fuzhou's utilized foreign investment.

Against such a backdrop, Yang said he has come to Hong Kong with high hopes of forging cooperation from a higher starting point, in a broader scope and with a wider range of areas.

Among the 75 investment projects on offer, 32 of them are located in the Fuzhou New Area and the Fuzhou Area of the China (Fujian) Pilot Free Trade Zone, with investments reaching $7.1 billion, accounting for 43.98 percent of the total contracts signed.

The Fuzhou New Area, which joins Shanghai Pudong New Area and Tianjin Binhai New Area, is the mainland's 14th national comprehensive reform zone.

The State-level new area, covering about 800 square kilometers in the coastal areas of Fuzhou, received the go-ahead from the State Council in August this year to test reform measures and favorable trade and tax policies for the modern services sector and manufacturing industry.

Hong Kong's Under Secretary of Commerce and Economic Development Godfrey Leung King-kwok told the meeting that as the mainland and Hong Kong had clinched a Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement on service trade last month, opening up the mainland's 153 service sectors to Hong Kong, the SAR will undoubtedly secure much easier access to cooperation with Fuzhou.

The 75 projects offered are expected to generate total investments of $16.1 billion, amounting to $4.63 billion of utilized foreign investment.

sophia@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 12/08/2015 page8)