South Korean investments play an outstanding role in Weihai, a coastal city on the eastern tip of the Shandong Peninsula. There are now more than 1,800 South Korean enterprises of various sizes doing business in the city, accounting for a whopping 50 percent of all foreign-funded enterprises.
“We have organized 55 delegations with over 200 people to South Korea for promotion this year,” said Vice Mayor Liu Mingxin at a press conference held in Weihai on Monday. “Fifty-two South Korean projects have been approved so far by the city government, accounting for 74.3 percent of the 70 newly approved foreign investments.”
Just 93 sea miles separate Weihai from South Korea. More than 80 percent of Korean Chinese are residents of the city, and they have played an important role in attracting Korean investment.
Officials at all levels are active participants in the “call to Korea” campaign, with township and even village-level administrators traveling across the water to promote the area. They all keep close ties with Korean entrepreneurs, finding out what these businesspeople are looking for when making overseas investments, and doing their best to provide it.
The South Korean Association of Industry and Commerce has now several hundred corporate members. When it was established in 1993, there were only 30.
The association acts as a bridge between Korean enterprises and the Weihai government. It delivers policies, regulations and useful investment information to its members as well as companies back home, helping them to learn what is going on in China.
“Besides geographical location and natural environment, the Koreans are also satisfied with the ‘soft environments’ provided by the government at different levels,” said Liu. “The city has established a joint meeting system. Officials at city, district and township level will be called together to cope with any large and complicated problems raised by the Korean people.”
There are now over 10,000 Koreans living in Weihai City.
(China.org.cn by Unisumoon September 21, 2004)
