CONFIDENTIAL
5
1
:
phase, which would link with the Guangdong network,.
was scheduled to start in December 1979.
Industrial Development
9.
Apart from the construction of new plants
and factories, of which there have been many reports in the last year, industrial development has taken a number of forms, all with the common aim of building Shenzhen into a foreign trade base. According to the Deputy Party Secretary of Shenzhen in an interview published in Wen Wei Pao on 22 February, in addition to direct trade, the Chinese are seeking to increase reimbursement (or compensation) trade; to increase trade in finished products from supplied materials; to increase trade in finished products from imported-
Since May materials; and to set up joint ventures.
1978, agreements have been reached for over 30 items
of raw materials to be processed into finished products.
There have been reports of joint ventures starting, but
it is not known how many. A recent compensation
trading agreement was reported in the Hsin Wan Pao of 9 March 1979: five factories were to be constructed
at Shekou by a Hong Kong company, worth HK$100 million. The Ta Kung Pao of 19 February announced an agreement with Harpers International Limited to set up a vehicle assembly plant in Shenzhen, with an initial annual output of 200 buses for sale in Hong Kong and Macau. It was also reported that Millies Holdings Limited would construct a HK$100 million industrial complex
COMEMANTIAL
/contd...
Page 150Page 151