As major destinations to host investment projects, Shanxi's development zones have attracted the attention of the overseas business community and secured an increasing amount of funds.
One example is the Shanxi Transformation and Comprehensive Reform Demonstration Zone, which sent a delegation of five companies to the fourth China International Import Expo held in Shanghai in November.
Through exhibiting their cutting-edge technologies and products like the recombinant human-origin collagen, these enterprises helped the zone draw attention from many international businesses who were seeking cooperative partners.
Shanxi is home to 88 development zones.
Among these development zones, the 69 zones for the manufacturing industry reported a combined fixed asset investment of 134.31 billion yuan ($21.17 billion) during the first eight months of this year, increasing 28.6 percent year-on-year.
In addition, the 12 modern agricultural zones reported a total fixed-asset investment of 6.06 billion yuan, increasing 39.3 percent. The seven cultural tourism zones reported a total fixed asset investment of 6.36 billion yuan, up 53.8 percent.
Promoting the high-quality development of the zones is a new requirement of the provincial authorities, who expect them to become powerful engines for Shanxi's economic growth.
To help the zones grow, the provincial government has recently released more than 30 incentive policy measures.
The investment boom in the development zones is manifested by impressive figures.
This year, the zones have held four massive signing events for investment projects. During the events, the zones secured a total of 1,144 investment projects with funding amounting to 628.1 billion yuan.
Of these projects, 1,133 began construction this year and 946 were put into operation. Officials from the Shanxi Department of Commerce expect that the newly operational projects can generate an output value of 170.8 billion yuan this year.
The investment boom is also a result of the local government efforts in improving the business environment.
A recent effort by the provincial government is the release of a five-year plan on Nov 16 for developing the business environment. This is the first five-year plan focusing on the business environment in Shanxi, which aims to further create an efficient, inclusive and fair environment for all business activities.
Over the past few years, Shanxi's governments at various levels have made remarkable progress in areas such as streamlining approval procedures, reducing administrative service costs and offering whole-process assistance－from business registration to operations－for investors.
Zhang Xiaosheng, deputy chief of the Shanxi Department of Commerce, said 14 strategic emerging industries have been established in Shanxi's development zones and these will lay a solid foundation for further attracting investment.
Wu Jia contributed to this story.
Baska Machinery in Datong is one of the foreign-funded companies becoming operational this year in Shanxi. LIU TONG/FOR CHINA DAILY
