Shandong - Weihai Economic and Technical Development Zone

Weihai Economic and Technical Development Zone (including Weihai Export Processing Zone)

Facts&Figures (2007)

Source: Administration Committee of Weihai Economic and Technical Development Zone

Introduction

Located south of Weihai, the Weihai Economic and Technical Development Zone (Weihai ETDZ) was set up by the State Council in 1992. It consists of five zones, namely, the industrial zone, export processing zone (Weihai EPZ), financial trade zone, resident zone and resort zone. The zone was set up in 2000, covering an area of 2.6 km².

Weihai ETDZ has an extensive transport system. There are two highways connecting the zone with Qingdao and Yantai, and a freight train station is located within the zone. The nearest airport, Weihai International Airport, is 20 km away from ETDZ and has airlines to Beijing, Jinan, Harbin, Dalian, Guangzhou, Hainan and Seoul. Its freight throughput was 3,394 tons in 2007.

Weihai ETDZ is also located near Weihai New Port, which has several 50,000-ton liquid product berths, 20,000-ton container berths and 20,000-ton coal-use berths. At present, freight ships regularly travel to South Korea and Japan from this port.

Investment Climate

In 2007, Weihai ETDZ's GDP reached RMB 12.0 billion, up 20% over the previous year. The ratio of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries was 3.0:66.5:30.5. Fixed asset investment and foreign trade value were RMB 6.8 billion and US$2.5 billion, growing by 23.1% and 11.7% year on year respectively. Processing trade was the largest contributor to the foreign trade value, accounting for 61.9% of the total.

Since the founding of the Weihai ETDZ, more than 2,000 domestic and overseas projects have been introduced resulting in investments totaling RMB 20 billion. Among them, 700 projects are foreign invested, with utilized FDI of US$950 million. South Korea, Hong Kong, U.S. and Japan are the main sources of FDI. In 2007, the utilized FDI was US$117 million.

The eight pillar industries of Weihai ETDZ are automobiles, machinery, electronics, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, textiles, food processing and building materials.

Weihai is located near South Korea and Japan, which account for a large market segment. Many Korean and Japanese investors also tend to invest in Weihai where it is easy to ship goods to their domestic markets. 

Major enterprises in these industries are Weihai Guyoung Auto Parts, Dayu Shipbuilding, Shiyi Electronics, Shijing Chemicals, Disha Pharmaceuticals, Shanhua Carpet and Jiakang Food Processing, the first four of which are backed by companies from South Korea.

Located in Weihai ETDZ, the Weihai EPZ established pillar industries including electronics, precise machinery, biological engineering, pharmaceuticals, new materials and marine products processing.

In 2007, utilized FDI in Weihai EPZ totaled US$21.2 million. Currently, 44 projects have been established in the zone, with a total contracted investment of US$580 million and utilized investment of US$330 million. Within the same period, the total export and import value of Weihai EPZ reached US$801 million, up 20% from the previous year.