After eight years of building service-oriented and environmentally friendly communities, Jining has become a popular investment destination for the high-tech and service industries, a major change from its previous dependence on coal, said a senior official of Jining, Shandong province.

“Jining’s GDP has doubled during the past five years without increasing coal production,” said Mei Yonghong, mayor of Jining, a city that is among the top three coal bases in China.

“The high-tech and service industries have become the pillar industries of the city, thanks to the city’s efforts toward transforming the economic structure,” said Mei.

A testing center at the Jining hi-tech industrial development zone.[Photo by Zhao Ruixue/chinadaily.com.cn]

According to the city’s investment promotion office, Jining now has 45 projects funded by Fortune Global 500 multinational corporations. HP, for example, has set up branches in Jining’s high-tech industrial development zone with a total investment exceeding $2 billion, and Oracle Corp will open an Oracle-approved education center in the zone this October.