Civic Landscape
Weifang
Weifang, the famous Kite City and a tourism destination, is situated in the center of Shandong Peninsula, covers an area of 15,800 square kilometers and has 8.6 million people, with 12 counties and districts, three development zones and one national-level export processing zone under its jurisdiction. The city is an important transportation hub between Shandong Peninsula and the inland, and a major base for manufacturing and processing agricultural and sideline products in the country. It enjoys a strong industrial foundation and a complete industrial system, with such five pillar industries as ocean chemical sector, machinery manufacturing industry, textile dyeing industry, bio-pharmaceutical industry and food processing sector. Up to now there have been 58 countries and regions investing in Weifang with an accumulated investment amount of 3.7 billion US dollars, and more than 160 countries and regions have established trade relations with Weifang with a total trade volume of 5.2 billion US dollars.
A Survey of Weifang
Administrative Division
Weifang, a coastal city opening to the outside world，is located in the middle of Shandong Peninsula, and consists of four districts, six county-level cities and two counties, covering an area of 16,000 square kilometers with a population of 8.55 million.
Geographic Location
Weifang is located in the middle of Shandong Peninsula, extending from 118º10´ to 102º01´east longitudes and from 35º43´ to 37º26´ north latitudes with a 113-kilometer-long coastal line. Adjacent to Qingdao and Yantai in the east and Zibo and Jinan in the west, it is an important traffic hub connecting the coastal areas and inland areas in Shandong province.
Climate
Located in the east monsoon area of the temperate Zone and having four distinct seasons a year, Weifang enjoys a pleasant climate with annual average temperature of 12.2℃, accumulated temperature of 4783.6℃, annual rainfall of over 700mm and a frost-free period of 185 to 211 days.
Terrain
With Taiyi Mountain Range to the south, Changwei Plain in the middle and Laizhou Bay to the north, Weifang has favorable conditions for developing farming, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery.
Mineral Resources
Weifang is rich in mineral resources. By now, 39 exploitable minerals and 6 billion cubic meters of underground bittern have been prospected. It is the largest production base of salt and salt chemicals in China. In addition, its reserve of sapphire ranks the first in China and the reserves of iron, gold, copper, zinc, clay and bentonite are also very large.
History and Culture
Weifang is a famous cultural city in Shandong province for its long history and rich cultural resources. Ancient Cultural celebrities such as Ou Yangxiu, Fan Zhongyan, Su Dongpo, Li Qingzhao and Zhong Banqiao have left invaluable cultural heritages for Weifang. It is also a land for the fostering of folk customs with silver-inlaid lacquer wares, copper wares with ancient styles, walnut carving and paper cutting astonishing the world with their unique techniques and skills. Yangjiabu new-year wood-cut painting, with rich local characteristics of the countryside, the kites made in Weifang enjoy great popularity across the world for its colourful shapes and unique techniques.
Industry
As an emerging industrial city, Weifang has developed a complete industrial system, mainly including six industries, such as machinery, textile and clothes, foodstuff and beverage, marine chemicals, paper making and packaging as well as electronics and information. As of now, the number of enterprises with annual sales income above RMB 5 million has exceeded 4312 with more than RMB 430 billion of annual industrial sales income.
Agriculture
Weifang is an important production area of agricultural and side-line products in China. Shouguang, a county-level city in Weifang, is the largest “vegetable basket” of China and the export of chicken from Zhucheng city amounts to 1/10 of that of the country. Besides, the beef of Gaomi City, the duck of Changle county, the flowers of Qingzhou City, the vegetable processing industry of Anqiu City, the prawn and scallop breeding in Changyi City and Hanting District also play a leading role in China as well as in Shandong province. In recent years, a number of new technology agricultural “corridors” and production bases of quality agricultural and side-line products have been built. In 2007, the added value of agriculture in Weifang amounted to RMB 21.18 billion and the agricultural export increased to USD 1.08 billion.
Tourism
Weifang is a famous cultural and tourist city in China. The paleontological fossils in Linqu county and the dinosaur fossils in Zhucheng City could be regarded as world wonders, the wood-cut painting of Yangjiabu Village is one of the three most famous wood-cut paintings in China. Being the location of the headquarters of the International Kite Federation, Weifang is honored as the World Kite Metropolis. Weifang International Kite Festival, an annual grand event, attracts thousands of visitors from home and abroad with its unique folk cultural features.
At present, there are 23 star-level hotels in Weifang, which received 43,000 overseas tourists and 10.38 million domestic tourists with total tourism revenues over RMB 9.86 billion.
Trade & Commerce
Weifang has a long trading history and it is an important distribution center in the east of Shandong province. Up to now, there are 36 specialized markets in Weifang, each with annual turnover of more than RMB 100 million. Shouguang Vegetable Wholesale Market, with annual trading volume of 3.6 billion kilograms, is among the top 10 specialized markets in China. The small commodity market, building materials market, farm machinery market and the auto market under which are under reconstruction will be the largest markets in Shandong province. The peninsula trading and logistics center under construction will bring about new breakthroughs to the development of the service industry of Weifang.
Listed Companies
By the end of 2007, 18 stocks of 16 companies in Weifang have been successfully listed on the securities exchange markets, including Shandong Chenming, Shandong Hailong, Shandong Haihua, Qingdao Huaguang, Shandong Juli, Weichai Power, Shandong Molong Steel, Wuzhou Mingzhu, Yaxing Chemical, Sunvim Textiles, Wohua Pharmaceutical, Tiande Chemical and Fuwei Films.
World Top 500 Companies in Weifang
Attracted by the desirable investment environment, preferential investment policies and great development potentials in Weifang, a number of world famous companies have set up operation in Weifang, such as Caterpillar from US, Itochu from Japan and Bayer from Germany. By 2007, 18 World Top 500 companies have established operations in Weifang.
Investment Environment
Traffic Conditions
Weifang has favorable traffic conditions, with Jiao-Ji railway, Ji-Qing expressway, Wei-Lai expressway as well as a dozen of state and provincial high- ways traversing the region. Air lines have been opened to some domestic cities from Weifang Airport and it is only 1 hour and 1.5 hours’ drive respect- ively to Qingdao International Airport and Jinan International Airport. In addition, the newly reconstructed Weifang Port has also been open to traffic.
Water Supply
Weifang has sufficient water resources. Xiashan Reservoir, the largest reservoir in Shandong province, is located in Weifang with normal water storage of 600 to 1000 million cubic meters.
Power Supply
The power supply in Weifang is from Shandong power grid, which has a total generation capacity of more than 30 million kilowatt and is the second largest power grid in China. The first phase of Weifang Power Plant has been completed and put into operation with a capacity of 660,000 kw.
Education, Science and Research
At present, there are 1652 institutions of higher learning and research institutes with 300,000 technicians and experts in various fields. Besides, there are more than 100 vocational schools. Since 1991, the city has made more than 3000 pieces of major scientific and research achievements.
Service System
Weifang has set up complete investment safeguard and social security systems concerning legal consultation, personnel exchange, contract arbitration, insurance and banking services. Its cultural, educational and hygiene systems have also been improved greatly in recent years. Besides, Weifnag has built a number of hotels and recreation facilities according to international standards. These service systems have ensured sufficient facilities for the industrial production, operation and people’s living requirements. Furthermore, Weifang also enjoys good social order.
Key Industries for Development
In accordance with the strategy of using resources comprehensively, speeding up technological innovations and fostering industrial clusters, the city will focus on the development of six industries in the next few years, including high technology, service, modern agriculture, culture, energy-saving and environment protection as well as public service, while encouraging the development of the traditional pillar industries such as advanced manufacturing, textiles and clothes, marine chemical, food fiber, paper making and packaging, electronics and information.
Wefang Economic and Technology Development Zone
The zone is located in the east of Wefang City, covering an area of 60 square kilometers. It has convenient traffic as well as other infrastructure facilities. The development zone enjoys prefecture-level economic governing power, carrying out centralized governance over economic and social undertakings within its administrative area.
Weifang Binhai Economic Development Zone
Weifang Binhai Economic Development Zone is located on the south bank of Laizhou Bay of Bohai Sea, 57 kilometers from the downtown area of Weifang City. The development zone has rich natural resources, the prospected reserve of underground bittern is up to 5.8 billion cubic meters, containing various valuable chemical elements such as potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium and bromine. Its annual output includes 2.5 million tons of crude salt, 850,000 tons of soda ash, 25,000 tons of bromine, 20,000 tons of potassium sulfate and 60,000 tons of sodium chloride. With unique advantages for the development ocean chemical industry, the development zone has been designated as “A National Demonstration Zone for Developing Salt and Salt Chemical Industry through Science and Technology”.
Shandong Weifang Export Processing Zone
Shandong Weifang Export Processing Zone, established in December, 2003 upon the approval of the state council as a special area under supervision of the customs, is located in the east of Weifang with a planned area of 3 square kilometers. Bordering Ji-Qing Expressway to the north, the export
processing zone has well established traffic conditions. In August, 2005, the zone passed the national acceptance examination and has now been put into operation.
Within the zone, which was established on the basis of international practice, the customs applies One-Time Application, One-Time Examination and One-Time Inspection on the basis of “inside the territory while outside the customs”. The customs clearance and logistics services in the zone have been up to the international level.
The zone encourages the establishment of various export processing enterprises, particularly the agricultural product, to make full use of international and domestic resources, and supports the development of high-tech industries such as IT, bio-medicine and fine chemical industry.
Weifang Coastal Project Zone
The coastal region of Weifang occupies a golden position in the Rim-Bohai Economic Circle, covering an area of 2657 square kilometers with 154.6 kilometers of coastal lines. This region has vast stretches of plains, rich natural resources, convenient traffic facilities and solid industrial foundations.
Weifang Coastal Project Zone, located at the confluence point of the Rim-Bohai Economic Circle, East China Economic Circle and Korea-Shandong Economic Circle, are facing whole new development opportunities. Especially, the decisions made by Shandong Province Government to develop Shandong Peninsula City Group and Manufacturing Base have brought about great opportunities for the development of the coastal region of Weifang.
Weifang Coastal Project Zone is a provincial-level development zone with a planned area of 100 square kilometers including 20 kilometers of starting area. According to the plans of Weifang Municipal Government, the project zone shall be developed into a marine chemical industry base, modern manufacturing base, logistics center with complete living and service facilities, by focusing on heavy chemical industry while taking advantage of the rich mineral and land resources as well as its desirable geographical positions.
Eleven Provincial-Level Development Zones in Weifang
Name |
Phone Number |
|
Hanting Economic Development Zone |
7366719 |
wjkg02@163.com |
Qingzhou Economic Development Zone |
3522269 |
kaifaqu_qz@163.com |
Zhucheng Economic Development Zone |
6010638 |
wzj750222@sina.com |
Shouguang Economic Development Zone |
5583602 |
sdsgwjj@hotmail.com |
Anqiu Economic Development Zone |
4736566 |
aqkfq@aq_dz.com |
Gaomi Economic Development Zone |
2369001 |
gmkfq@163.com |
Changyi Economic Development Zone |
7220291 |
sdcyjjkfq@hotmail.com |
Changle Economic Development Zone |
6282008 |
kfqwf@126.com |
Linqu Economic Development Zone |
3212520 |
|
Weifang Foreign Investment Development Zone |
8166161 |
ranbing_1978@yahoo.com.cn |
Weifang Phonix Mountain Hi-New Tech Industry Zone |
7606650 |
zzbfh@126.com |
Major Festivals & Exhibitions
In recent years, Weifang has won great fame and popularity at home and abroad by developing its unique festival and exhibition economy on rich resources and setting up a platform for economic and cultural exchanges with the world. Since 1984, the annual Weifang International Kite Festival has become the name card of Weifang City for going out to the world. On the basis of the kite culture, Weifang also holds a series of other festival and exhibitions each year, such as Shandong-Taiwan Economic and Trade Fair, China (Shouguang) International Vegetable Fair, China (Changle) Jewel Festival, Qingzhou Flower Expo, North China (Changyi) Plant Expo and Linqu Rare Stone Fair.
Weifang International Kite Festival
On April 20 each year, kite fans around the world flock to Weifang to take part in the International Kite Festival, decorating the sky of Weifang with colorful kites in various shapes. By now, the festival has been successfully staged for 24 consecutive years, and Weifang is designated as the World Kite Capital by the International Kite Federation.
China (Shouguang) International Vegetable Fair
The vegetable fair, held in April each year, is one of the five major agricultural exhibitions in China and the only specialized international vegetable fair held in the country. It plays an important role in promoting the standardization and internationalization of vegetable plantation.
Shandong-Taiwan Economic and Trade Fair
As one of the four major economic and trade fairs in Shandong province, Shandong-Taiwan Economic and Trade Fair, held in September each year, has brought about great opportunities for the cooperation between Taiwan and mainland enterprises and has become an important platform for economic and cultural exchanges across Taiwan Straits.
Other Festivals and Exhibitions
Changle Precious Stone Festival (Apr. 20), Northern China (Changyi) Forestation Trees Exhibition (Sep. 19), Shandong (Qingzhou) Flowers Trade Fair (Sep. 29), Linqu Red Leaves Festival (Sep.)
Major Festivals & Exhibitions
Foreign-Related Service Institutions
Weifang Municipal Bureau of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation
Add.: 326 Shengli Dong Street, Weifang City, Shandong Province, P.R.China
Postcode：261041
Tel.: 86-536-8266722
Fax: 86-536-8266702
Foreign Affairs Office of Weifang Municipal Government
Add.: 99 Shengli Dong Street, Weifang City, Shandong Province, P.R.China
Postcode: 261061
Tel.: 86-536-8789858
Fax: 86-536-8789850
Weifang Office, Qingdao Customs District People’s Republic of China
Add.: 246 Shengli Dong Street, Weifang City, Shandong Province, P.R.China
Postcode: 261041
Tel.: 86-536-8238921
Fax: 86-536-8238880
Weifang Office, State Administration of Foreign Exchange
Add.: 17 Siping Road, Weifang City, Shandong Province, P.R.China
Postcode: 261041
Tel.: 86-536-8232014
Fax: 86-536-8232014
Weifang Branch, Bank of China
Add.: 246 Shengli Dong Street, Weifang City, Shandong Province, P.R.China
Postcode：261041
Tel.: 86-536-8216666
Fax: 86-536-8238377
Weifang Administration for Industry and Commerce
Add.: 67 Minsheng Street, Weifang City, Shandong Province, P.R.China
Postcode: 261061
Tel.: 86-536-8589680
Fax: 86-536-8589680
Weifang Municipal Bureau of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation
Add.: 326 Shengli Dong Street, Weifang City, Shandong Province, P.R.China
Postcode：261041
Tel.: 86-536-8266722
Fax: 86-536-8266702
Foreign Affairs Office of Weifang Municipal Government
Add.: 99 Shengli Dong Street, Weifang City, Shandong Province, P.R.China
Postcode: 261061
Tel.: 86-536-8789858
Fax: 86-536-8789850
Weifang Office, Qingdao Customs District People’s Republic of China
Add.: 246 Shengli Dong Street, Weifang City, Shandong Province, P.R.China
Postcode: 261041
Tel.: 86-536-8238921
Fax: 86-536-8238880
Weifang Office, State Administration of Foreign Exchange
Add.: 17 Siping Road, Weifang City, Shandong Province, P.R.China
Postcode: 261041
Tel.: 86-536-8232014
Fax: 86-536-8232014
Weifang Branch, Bank of China
Add.: 246 Shengli Dong Street, Weifang City, Shandong Province, P.R.China
Postcode：261041
Tel.: 86-536-8216666
Fax: 86-536-8238377
Weifang Administration for Industry and Commerce
Add.: 67 Minsheng Street, Weifang City, Shandong Province, P.R.China
Postcode: 261061
Tel.: 86-536-8589680
Fax: 86-536-8589680
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E-mail : webmaster@trade.gov.cn
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