"What is topping our agenda is creating the best investment environment to ensure success in our territory," said Jiangxi Province Executive Vice-Governor Wu Xinxiong.

Wu said the province is striving to absorb US$1.9 billion in foreign direct investment this year, up 20 percent year-on-year.

Official statistics indicate the province's foreign investment actually used last year was US$1.6 billion, up 33.38 percent year-on-year.

The figures rank ninth and second respectively among all Chinese provincial regions in 2003.

Wu has just wrapped a successful investment promotion campaign in Beijing, which has won the province a contract for foreign direct investment of US$72.3 million.

More than 250 government and company representatives from 10-odd foreign countries and regions, including the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, France and Germany, took part in the activity,

Jiangxi's reasons for overseas investment are strong, Wu said.

According to Wu, the province boasts a convenient transportation system, rich resources and low production costs.

While it takes less than two hours to fly from Jiangxi to some of China's major economic hubs, including Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, Jiangxi has some of the country's richest supplies of mineral resources.

Moreover, Jiangxi leads Chinese provincial regions in natural reserves regarding 12 mineral varieties including copper, gold, rare earth metals and uranium.

Also, labor costs in Jiangxi are among the lowest in China, roughly one-third of costs in Shenzhen and Shanghai.

As a result, more and more international investors -- including US and Japanese groups -- have shown interest in investment in Jiangxi for its low production costs, especially in manufacturing, he said.

The production cost of the manufacturing industry in Jiangxi is only one-35th of that in the United States and one-10th that of Taiwan Province, Wu said.

While paying great attention to large European companies, Wu said Jiangxi is expected to be the next growth point for small- and medium-sized businesses in Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK).

"We reached a preliminary agreement with the Japanese Government last year to build an industrial park for Japan's small- and medium-sized businesses in Jiangxi, and the construction work will start this year," Wu said.

He believed the introduction of more advanced Japanese and ROK-based small- and medium-sized businesses will help upgrade local counterparts, serving as a major contributor to the province's economy.

Wu also said that he will stage an investment appealing campaign in Hong Kong next month, promoting Jiangxi's image among Hong Kong investors.

Also he will visit Taiwan Province for the fifth time later this year as well, with investment appealing one top priority.

Most of the 145 major projects for this year are infrastructure and agricultural facility development, with an estimated investment of more than 100 million yuan (US$12.1 million) each. And the total investment will exceed 36.32 billion yuan (US$4.4 billion) this year alone.

Sources with related provincial government departments disclosed that investors who sign contracts with the local government for these projects will be treated favorably.

Wu believed the involvement of more outside investors can facilitate the operation for a better economic return.

There are also a number of minor projects, which have been put on the market for investment, covering a wide range of sectors.

Nanchang, capital of the province, has decided to build one or two state-level electronic information industrial parks over the next three year. The annual sales turnover from these projects is expected to exceed 2 billion yuan (US$242 million).

The Nanchang Municipal Government will allocate a leverage fund of 3 million yuan (US$362,000) annually to sponsor the projects, beginning this year.

(China Daily March 23, 2004)