"The development construction of Changxing Island is in full swing," said Yao Jiakai, director of the administrative committee of the harbor industrial zone.

"We are stepping up infrastructure construction and striving to attract investors from home and abroad," Yao added.

The zone has already attracted 31 projects with a total investment of 19 billion yuan, of which $1.15 billion came from foreign investors, including big names such as the STX Group, based in the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Singaporean enterprise IMC.

Investment in individual projects in the zone has reached an average of more than 600 million yuan, the administrative committee said.

For instance, ROK-based STX Group, the sixth largest ship manufacturer in the world, has invested $902 million in ship manufacturing and subsidiary projects.

It is reportedly not only the scale of the cooperative project to be undertaken between a ROK company and the Dalian government but also the amount of individual foreign investment have set a record in Liaoning Province since the central government initiated the strategy of revitalizing traditional industrial bases in Northeast China in 2003.

The investment projects are expected to help accelerate construction of the Changxing Island Harbor Industry Zone, driving development of Dalian's shipbuilding industry and spurring growth of related sectors like steel, engines and ship components, a senior local government official said.

"Thanks to the painful efforts, the zone received satisfactory investment," a local official said.

For years, attracting investment has been the zone's top priority. It participated in large campaigns to attract investment in the coastal cities of Shanghai and Shenzhen, as well as in Japan, ROK and European countries.

The zone even plotted out specialty sections to draw investors, such as shipping and its subsidiary industries, an area for Japanese medium-and small-enterprises, a light industry area, and a recycle economy industrial area.

At the same time, local authorities have attached importance to port construction.

Infrastructural facilities, such as railway and roads, are being renovated and expanded.

"We will optimize our investment environment to make Changxing Island one of the pivotal points in developing the Bohai Bay-rim economic zone," a senior official said in an earlier interview.

The infrastructural facilities are improving greatly, laying down a good foundation for the companies to settle into.

Planning and preliminary preparation have helped set up infrastructural facilities like the port, railways, highways, power and drinking water. Many of the companies in the zone have already started operations.

The local authorities have laid special emphasis on port construction, on which the harbor industry mainly depends.

A 50,000-tonnage berth and two 70,000-tonnage berths are under construction at present and expected to be completed by the end of the year.

(China Daily 03/08/2007 page17)