S
BREAKFAST WITH MEMBERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OFFICE, ZHUHAI PEOPLE'S MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT: ZHUHAI: 20 DECEMBER 1988
Those present included:
ZHAN CHONGLI
(詹崇理)
) Director
ZENG XIANQIANG
SONG NING) Deputy Director ) Deputy Section Chief WU ZHENGUANG() Interpreter
吴振光)
1. Mr Zhan and his colleagues from the Zhuhai Foreign Affairs Office joined me for breakfast at my hotel.
2. Mr Zhan explained that Zhuhai originally belonged to Guangdong's Xiangshan County (now Zhongshan City), became Zhuhai County in 1953 and a city administered directly by the provincial government in 1979. At present it had three political divisions: the Special Economic Zone, Xiangzhou District and Doumen County. The population totalled 420,000 and it covered an area of 7,555 sq kms (1,266 sq kms of land and 6,289 sq kms of water) with a coastline of 690
kms.
3. In 1980 an SEZ of 6.8 sq kms was established on the border with Macao and this was expanded to 15.16 sq kms in 1983. Great improvements had been made to basic utilities, energy, transportation and telecommunications facilities. These had contributed to atttracting many foreign investors. By the end of 1986, Zhuhai had signed 2,551 agreements and contracts with foreign firms involving US$ 1.9 billion in foreign capital, of which US$ 400 million had already been put to use. There were at present over 336 Sino-foreign joint ventures and foreign owned enterprises of which industrial projects made up 55.1%; commerce 20.8%; telecommunications and transportation 6% and the rest 18.1%. Over 33,000 items of various types of equipment had been imported. The SEZ had embarked on the formation of an industrial system based on electronics, textiles, food processing and building materials. The guiding principle in planning future developments would remain to keep Zhuhai pollution free and a Garden City. By the end of the century the SEZ aimed to develop an export oriented economic structure with industry as the key component in co-ordination with the development of trade and commerce, tourism (visitors in 1986 had already reached the figure of 1.8 million), agriculture, fishing, animal husbandry and fruit growing.
4.
Mr Zhan said that the planning and construction of the essential infrastructure for the existing SEZ had now been completed and a substantial expansion in its area to 54 sq kms was under consideration. He was unable to be precise about the exact districts which would be involved but later his colleague, Mr Wu, suggested that it might be northwards towards the boundary fence which apparently exists within the Zhuhai City limits. Mr Zhan emphasised that this planned expansion of the SEZ was still awaiting central government approval from Peking.
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