Six subsidiaries owned by Weichai exhibit their products at the second China International Import Expo in November. Photos provided to China Daily

Over 7,100 new companies, including nearly 4,000 private businesses, were registered in the industrial area in the first 10 months this year

The Weifang Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone in East China's Shandong province will further enhance government service quality to support key business projects as part of its efforts to maintain stable economic growth.

Goertek, an acoustics solutions and smart hardware provider headquartered in Weifang, is one of the largest mobile earphone and microphone producers in the world in terms of annual sales volume.

Amid global trade turbulence, some of its clients considered partnering with other foreign suppliers to lower overall costs, according to the company. After visiting some suppliers in South Asia and Southeast Asia, the clients came back to Goertek because either the quality could not meet the requirement or the costs were too high.

Goertek's professional team is key to boosting its bargaining power in global trade.

Goertek has 10,000 development engineers and 10,000 technicians to guarantee the quality of their products. Those experts are the most valuable assets of the company and will not be affected by the changing global environment, the company said.

The zone, which shoulders responsibilities in supporting Shandong's efforts in replacing old economic drivers with new ones, has made great efforts to support Goertek's development.

Goertek is constructing a smart hardware industrial park with a total investment of 10 billion yuan ($1.42 billion). The project is one of 10 key business projects recognized by the Weifang government this year.

Aimed at speeding up the construction, the zone established Zhuan Ban, literally meaning special service teams, to give Goertek more support.

Under this model, support teams formed by government officials have been assigned the responsibilities to oversee key projects in the zone to ensure that any difficulties in the construction process can be solved in an efficient manner, according to the zone.

According to local officials, meetings are organized for key projects weekly so that companies can raise problems with officials, with all related government departments required to provide feedback in limited time.

Attracted by the improved government working efficiency, more companies are investing in industrial parks in the zone. A drone-centered industrial park, an aviation industrial park, a healthcare industrial park and an internet of thingsthemed industrial park are under construction.

Attracting business

The zone has long been encouraging leading companies to expand along its entire industrial chain. By doing so, it will help businesses to gain more bargaining power on one hand, and will help attract more businesses to the region on the other hand.

Weichai, one of the leading heavy trucks and component developers in China, is a pioneer in the zone in practicing this strategy.

The company demonstrated its overseas expansion achievements during the second China International Import Expo, which was held from Nov 5 to 10 in Shanghai with more than 3,800 companies from around the globe exhibiting, by showcasing products under six foreign brands including alternative-fuel power system developer Power Solutions International, Moteurs Baudouin and Linde Hydraulics.

A 20-meter-long patrol boat, built by Weichai-controlled Italian shipbuilding company Ferretti Group, attracted great attention. The boat, the first exhibit to enter the expo venue in October, is equipped with two 1,900 horsepower engines that allow the vessel to reach a speed of 55 knots.

Weichai is building a new energy power industrial park for hydrogen fuel cells, a new energy innovation center, a Linde Hydraulics industrial park, a digitalized high-end engine production center and a facility to produce high-end large--bore engines in the zone to support regional industrial upgrading.

The company celebrated the groundbreaking of the Weichai International Engine Component Industrial Park in the zone on July 13.

The industrial park will be capable of serving more than 500 suppliers of Weichai upon completion. Factories of about 20 companies including Germany's Knorr-Bremse will begin running by the end of this year, according to the zone government.

This year, the zone government innovated its investment attraction model by partnering with some professional capital investor to more effectively identify excellent companies.

Local officials said investment companies are more professional in identifying and evaluating top businesses in industries compared to governments.

Beijing-based TSC Laser Technology Development, specializing in 3D printing, was attracted to the zone under the new investment attraction model.

TSC's new plant in the aviation and aerospace industrial park in the zone will begin production at the end of November. Headquartered in Beijing, the company has branches in Shenyang of Liaoning province, Xi'an of Shaanxi province and Tianjin municipality.

It chose to invest in the zone because of the connecting services provided by capital investors and premium government services, according to the company.

By the end of October, capital investors including Tsinghua Holdings Capital had introduced 18 projects to the zone. Capital investors will also introduce about 50 projects to the zone's aviation and aerospace industrial park in the next five years.

Strong support

For small and medium-sized enterprises in the expansion phase, the zone not only provides policy support but also strives to help them ease their financial burden.

Hoaco Automation Technology, which specializes in die-cutting machinery, celebrated the opening of a 30,000-square-meter facility last year.

What made Song Guanghui, chairman of Hoaco, feel excited about it was that the factory was built by the government, and the company only needed to pay for rental costs.

Song said the company can focus on research and development in the upcoming years thanks to the reduced financial burden.

From January to the end of October, a total of 7,197 new companies had registered in the zone. Nearly 4,000 of them are privately owned, which represents an increase of 103.3 percent year-on-year.

The zone said it will continue to innovate its investment attraction model to develop industries such as life science, software information, new materials and internet of things.

   From Left:The first fleet of buses using Weichai hydrogen fuel cells are put into operation on Aug 23. Technicians debug equipment at a plant in the Weifang Aviation and Aerospace Industrial Park. Photos provided to China Daily

(China Daily 11/26/2019 page12)