TNAG-2527-FCO40-3696-Hong-Kong-China-Relations-Committee-1992 — Page 26

CONFIDENTIAL

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51.

Because of Dalian's strategic location, most major foreign trading firms in Liaoning Province and those in the Northeastern provinces, Heilongjiang, Jilin and Inner Mongolia had set up offices in Dalian.

52.

Dalian recognized the importance of manpower training for its economic growth. There were more than 200 scientific research institutions in Dalian and 13 institutions of higher education, turning out a total of 32 000 graduates a year.

53.

network:

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

We were told that Dalian had a well developed external communication

It was connected to the railway systems in North East China and North China;

Dalian's airport had 20 domestic and international routes, with regular flights

to Hong Kong and Tokyo;

Its highway stretched for a total length of 4 000 km, including the 375 km

Shenyang-Dalian Expressway;

There were 58 berths in the port of Dalian, including 29 for vessels of over

10 000 tonnes, and special berths at Xingang (*) for 100 000-tonne oil

tankers. Each year, more than 2 000 foreign vessels called at Dalian, and the

port had an annual handling capacity of over 50 million tonnes;

(e) Its port also served as the major outlet for the North East, handling a total

import and export trade valued at US$9.46 billion in 1990; and

(f)

There were 40 000 programme-controlled phones in Dalian, and direct dial system was common place. By the end of 1992, another 85 000

programme-controlled phones would be put into use.

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/ . . . . .