Big projects, foreign firms and govt stimulus package

Zhanjiang Economic and Technological Development Zone is showing increasing appeal to foreign investors as local authorities make new efforts to improve the business environment.

In addition to further simplified administrative procedures for examinations and approval, the Zhanjiang city government has introduced a series of preferential policies to encourage foreign companies to set up or expand facilities in the zone.

The government has also established award grants to overseas companies in the zone for investment recommendation, technological renovation and exports.

According to its future development plan, the zone is expected to produce products worth more than 300 billion yuan ($48.78 billion) a year in five years and more than 500 billion yuan in the next decade, entering the top 10 development zones in China.

As a new economic engine in Guangdong province, the zone would play a bigger role in speeding up economic growth in the west of the province.

Due to the poor infrastructure, the western region now lags far behind the prosperous Pearl River Delta region that borders Hong Kong and Macao.

With 496 square kilometers and a population of more than 300,000, the zone includes the city's Donghai, Naozhou, Dongshantou and Nanping islands.

It is now home to more than 2,500 operations funded by overseas investors, including those from North America, Europe, East Asia, Northeast Asia, the Middle East, as well as Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Global names including Coca Cola and PepsiCo have set up production facilities in the zone.

A mega iron and steel facility and a huge petrochemical project are now under construction on 286 sq km Donghai Island, the fifth-larges in China and the biggest in Guangdong.

Construction on the iron and steel project will be completed by Baosteel Group in September 2015. It will have an annual capacity of 10 million tons of steel.

The China-Kuwait petrochemical project will be able to refine 15 million tons of crude oil and produce more than 1 million tons of ethylene a year when production starts in 2016.

Meanwhile construction on a new airport will begin in 2015 and be completed in 2017, local authorities said.

In addition to the steel and petrochemical industries, the zone also plans to attract more foreign companies in high-tech, paper-making, marine biomedicines, machinery, garments, electric appliances and beverages, authorities said.

Located in the Leizhou Peninsula and facing Hainan province, Zhanjiang has abundant resources in agriculture, aquatic products, tourism, minerals, crude oil and natural gas.

A major coastal city on the mainland, Zhanjiang has a coastline of 2023.6 kilometers and an ocean area of more than 20,000 square kilometers.

In addition to the petrochemical and energy industries, Zhanjiang is also a major producer and exporter of sugar and aquatic products.

In 2010, the zone was designated as a provincial-level high-tech zone and a provincial-level zone for the recycling economy.

In 2011, it was listed as an important destination for industries transferring from the Pearl River Delta region.