Luohe can be a great choice for those wishing to invest in China, because of its geographical features, transportation facilities, environment, rich history and culture, and favorable policies.

Located in south-central Henan, the city of Luohe lies at the intersection of the Donglu and Huaibei plains, and has the Shaying, Fenquan and Hongru rivers flowing through it. The Hongru is the biggest tributary of the Huaihe River.

Transportation hub

Luohe is an important railway transportation hub, being connected with the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, Luohe-Baoji Railway and the Luohe-Fuyang Railway. These railways form a cross-shaped intersection in the city, making Luohe Railway Station a national first-class station.

The city also boasts a convenient highway transportation system. The 107 National Highway and the Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway pass its territory, linking the city to the rest of the country.

Luohe's natural resources are mainly comprised of grain, arable land, rock salt and water.

The city has 166,000 hectares of actual cultivated land and 5083 hectares of forest area, while its water area covers 16,640 hectares and unused land area makes up 2,307 hectares.

Luohe is rich in water resources. The annual average flow of its natural surface run-off water is 370 million cu m and the average annual supply of underground shallow water is 520 million cu m.

It has an 80-sq km rock salt area, with reserves reaching about 40 billion tons. Its quality meets the national edible standard.

Luohe also has abundant power supply and is a power distribution center of Henan Province.

The flourishing information industry in the area has created an intricate telecommunications network consisting of 100,000 lines of program-controlled telephones and a complete Internet linkup.

Further, the city has more than 30 hotels.

With beautiful scenery, convenient transportation, complete facilities, sound industrial foundation and good investment environment, Luohe has formed an export-oriented economic structure, which includes light industry, commerce, finance, real estate, information, transportation and other industries.

Luohe is a national pilot city for developing the rural market and IT-driven agricultural industrialization.

It is not only a modern city but also a famous ancient town in the Central Plains with a long history and rich cultural heritage.

It is reported that Luohe was already a town as early as the North Wei Dynasty (AD 386-534) and a prosperous commercial hub in the Ming (AD 1368-1644) and Qing (AD 1644-1911) dynasties.

Investor-friendly policies

 

Luohe's Shineway Group is the largest meat-processing corporation in Asia. Wu Changqing

At present, the local authorities are going all out to make Luohe an attractive investment destination.

A series of preferential policies have been put in place to encourage both domestic and overseas investment.

Investments are being especially encouraged in the following industries and projects:

Hi-efficient agriculture, hi-tech and food processing industries,

Projects of infrastructure and public facilities,

Tourism, transportation, environmental protection and IT.

The administrative authorities in charge of foreign investment will coordinate and solve various kinds of problems that may rise in the course of construction, production and operation of projects.

Foreign-invested enterprises will enjoy preferential treatment in terms of water, power supply and gas supply, as well as transportation and communication.

According to a website of the Henan government, www.henaninvest.com, foreign-funded enterprises have the right to reject unreasonable charges, fines or inspection. In such cases, they can report to the local government or the People's Court.

One-stop service is available in Luohe. Foreign investors may apply to the Luohe Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Authority for project registration. All approval procedures for small and medium -sized projects should be completed free of charge within seven working days, while the time set for large projects is 15 working days.

The city also has a complete financial system to directly deal with foreign exchange settlements and international finance.

(China Daily 10/19/2007 page26)