China's Jilin Province invites Singapore investors

A team of senior officials led by Mr Chen Wei Gen, Vice Governor of Northeast China's Jilin Province, on Tuesday visited Singapore and held the China Jilin (Singapore) Business Forum at Shangri-La Hotel.

The provincial government officials introduced the general investment environment and a total of nine key investment projects, with an minimum RMB 30 million each, to around 200 representatives of the local enterprises from various industries.

Mr Chen said Jilin Province has a very solid industrial base, predominated by the automobile and petrochemical industries, alongside with the large and fast-growing pharmaceutical and food industries.

Thanks to government preferential policies, the province has attracted more than 10,000 foreign investors to date, including the world's prestigious companies, such as Ford, General Motors Corp, Pepsi, Toyota, according to Chen.

Bai Rui, head of the Commerce Bureau of Changchun City Foreign Investment Division, told China Knowledge that Changchun, the capital of Jilin Province, stands out among major Chinese cities for its excellent infrastructure and rapidly growing industrial and agricultural sectors.

Changchun's gross domestic product (GDP) amounted to RMB 207.3 billion in 2007, while per capita GDP posted an average annual increase of 12.5% to US$3,695 last year. Its utilized foreign investment reached US$5.91 billion during the same period, with an average annual growth rate of 17%.