Fujian Further Opens Up

Fujian Province will further

enhance its introduction of foreign capital， and promote its open economy in 2012 and achieve new breakthroughs in attracting Forture 500 companies， said Su Shulin， provincial governor of the province when delivering the government work report on Jan. 12 in a governmental conference.

Looking to the new year， Su stressed his key points such as to further create Fujian’s advantages in the opening up and reform， bring about new situation in cross-Strait cooperation. To achieve these goals， Fujian needs to maintain its growth momentum in foreign trade， lift its level of utilizing foreign capital， deepen cooperation with Hongkong and Macao， and further open up to the outside. Moreover， by implementing the Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Area Overall Development Plan， Fujian is expected to foster its economic cooperation and cultural exchange with Taiwan across the strait.

Since 2011， the first year of the 12th Five-Year Plan， Fujian has been more and more opening up thanks to a series of preferential national policies， including the supports on the Economic Zone on the West Coast of the Taiwan Strait， Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Area， Xiamen Comprehensive Coordinated Reform.

Opening-up has become the most important key word in Fujian’s development. In the Development Plan of West Coast Economic Zone， “To build an open economic zone” is listed as the one of four goals of the area， which centers on Fujian Province and also includes some parts of neighboring provinces like Zhejiang， Guangdong and Jiangxi.

The Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Area Overall Development Plan also sets sights on deepening reform in new era and new channels for further opening up， hence forming the pattern of all-round opening.

The passing 2011 saw Fujian’s overall foreign trade volume amounting to US$ 143.3 billion， up 31.7% year on year. Its import and export growth both top the list of the country’s leading foreign trade provinces and cities. The foreign investment in actual use rose to US$ 11 billion.

With the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) in order to further promote cross-Strait economic cooperation， the economic and trade cooperation between Fuijan and Taiwan have moved to a higher level with a larger range at wilder scale. That is evidenced by that Fujian’s utilization of Taiwan’s investment comes top in the mainland， especially in agriculture where its utilization ranks first， and Fujian’s investment in Taiwan also takes the lead in the mainland.

Fujian is expected to continue its demonstration effect in China’s opening up by deepening opening up， upgrade the level of opening up and intensifying vitality in the regional development， said Su.

As a key point in the West Coast Area construction and Fuijan’s development， Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Area firstly takes the try and actively explores the new cross-Strait cooperation model， thus becoming the new highlight in the opening up strategy.

According to the Fujian Industrial and Commercial Bureau， the newly increased foreign-owned enterprises in Pingtan climbed to 676， up 87 percent year on year; the new registered capital hit RMB 3.75 billion， 42 percent year on year. Among those， there were 22 newly Taiwan-funded enterprises， double that of the previous year and taking 75 percent of the newly increased foreign-owned enterprises.

Pingtan， the city adjacent to Taiwan， has therefore become a hot spot for investment rather than an isolated island years ago. It is estimated that the GDP grows 18.3 percent in 2011 in the city， with the investment in infrastructure over RMB 30 billion. Pingtan is ushering in a promising future.

Fujian Province， as a whole， is turning step by step its blueprint into reality by building an open economic zone on the West Coast.