5
7.
So in the foreseeable future, the SSEZ is
unlikely to serve as a major growth point for the national
economy. This is true for all four SEZs. Relative to
China's major northern industrial centres, the SEZS
generally lack trained manpower and sufficient electricity supply, have limited communications and infrastructural facilities, and are isolated from China's domestic
markets. Instead of attracting high technology
industries, they have mainly attracted small-scale investment from Hong Kong in processing and assembly
operations, in services and in property. They are too
small and immature at present to provide significant impetus to growth in the national context. This seems
likely to remain the case for some time.
8.
A significant extension of China's SEZ policy is the opening up of 14 coastal cities and Hainan Island to
foreign trade and investments in 1984. Some of these cities, like Dalian, Tianjin, Shanghai and Guangzhou, are
well-established industrial and commercial centres. It is
more likely that they, and the inland cities like Wuhan,
will be the locomotives for economic growth in the national context, rather than the original four SEZS,
although the SEZS may make a significant contribution at
the provincial level.
Free Trade Zone: place for foreign trade and investments
g.
As both foreign and local enterprises in the
SSEZ can trade with a greater degree of freedom than in
other parts of China and enjoy preferential tax
treatments, exports and imports to and from the SSEZ have
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