Yancheng looking to attract more investment

By Song Wenwei (China Daily Jiangsu Bureau)
Updated: 2009-11-10 09:50

YANCHENG: More investment will be attracted to propel the fast development of Yancheng in East China's Jiangsu province, said sources from an economic and trade fair held here last weekend.

Still a relatively underdeveloped city in the northern part of the affluent province, Yancheng is striving to catch up after the State Council's approval of a coastal development plan for the city and two other coastal cities in the province in early June.

"We will make full use of our coastal resources to accelerate economic development and achieve prosperity," said Yancheng mayor Li Qiang.

The city government has already made a blueprint for a 10-year development plan to build the city into a base of new industries including new energy, environmental protection technologies, agricultural processing and logistics. The city will also tap its potential in tourism and ecological development.

With the longest sedimentary seafront in Jiangsu, the city has sped up to develop its ports and sediment deposits.

Yancheng now has a cluster of four ports, with the biggest, Dafeng, serving as a key regional port between Shanghai in the south and Lianyungang in the north.

The city is also endowed with a 4,553-sq-km sediment deposit, which is still growing at an estimated speed of 13.3 sq km each year.

As a traditional agricultural city, new forms of agricultural development are being encouraged, including aquatic breeding and flower cultivation that will both increase farmers' income and make better use of the sediment.

At the fair, agreements were signed for 14 projects, of which 11 were overseas-funded ones worth US$1.836 billion and three domestic-funded projects worth 4.7 billion yuan (US$690 million).

Over 300 investors, business professionals and company representatives from Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and domestic enterprises attended the trade fair.