Investment Environment

Shenyang, the provincial capital of Liaoning Province, is an economic, cultural and impor­tant industrial base of the province, a finance and trade and transportation center in North­east China, as well as one of the most famous cultural and historic cities of China. Shenyang is located in the middle part of Liaoning Province and in the southern part of Northeast China, at 12225'-123O48' E, and 41O11'-43O2' N. Sandwiched between the Bohai Sea and the Changbai Mountains, it is situated in the hinderland area of the L i a o d o n g Penisula. It has a typical northern continental cli­mate with four dis­tinct seasons. Having 1 city, 9 districts and 3 counties under its jurisdiction,

A city with strong comprehensive strength

Shenyang is one of the super-large cities and a key industrial base in China, as well as a cen­ter of economy, culture, science and technol­ogy, business, trade, finance and transportation in Northeast China, with superior geographical location, rich natural resources, convenient transportation and complete urban functions. With a GDP figure of RMB140 billion yuan of last year, Shenyang ranked the fifth in terms of comprehensive strengths in the assessment on the 219 Chinese cities conducted by the state departments concerned. It was listed as one of the 53 most competitive cities over the world by the World Bank together with Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai.

A city with various advantages

In order to accelerate the urban construction, Shenyang has been adhering to the principle of opening urban construction market to the out­side world since the reform and opening up to the outside world, bringing about an increase in investment in urban constructions, an update of infrastructure facilities, an great change in the urban functions and a total new outlook in the city environment. With the initial establishment of the foreign oriented economy in Shenyang, the investment environment is being greatly en­hanced and advantages for further development are beginning to take shape.

Advantagous Location: Shenyang lies in the middle of Northeast Asia, on the same equidis­tant radial line together with key cities like Ja­pan, South Korea, North Korea, Mongolia and Russia etc.. Within a radius of 150 kilometers with Shenyang in the center, locate the well-known steel capital of Anshan, the coal capital of Fushun, the coal and iron city of Benxi, the coal and power city of Fuxin, the oil city of Panjin, the light industrial and textile city of Dandong, the chemical fiber city of Liaoyang and the grain and coal base of Tieling, which forms a city group and economic zone in the east of Liaoning Province, with a population of 24 million.

Unique Functions: With its unique urban func­tions, strategic geographic location and the dis­tribution capabilities, Shenyang has become a center of politics, economy, culture, science and technology, business and trade, finance as well as transportation in Liaoning or even in North­east China.

A Political Center

Shenyang is the capital city of Liaoning Prov­ince, where the Provincial Committee, Provin­cial People's Congress, Provincial Government, Provincial People's Political Consultative Con­ference Office and departments directly under the control of other provinces and the central government are all located.

A Economic Center

The comprehensive economic strength of Shenyang ranks among the top of all the re­gions and cities of municipal level in China and 2002, the GDP amounted to RMB 140 billion yuan and local fiscal income was 10.5 billion yuan.

A Cultural Center

Shenyang is a famous historical and cultural city. The Xinle Culture could traces back over 7200 years and Manqing Culture could date back to over 300 years. It is the cradle of cultures along the Liaohe River and the foundation of North­eastern Chinese Culture.

A Science and Technology Center

Shenyang is well-known overseas for its pro­found science and technology capabilities. There are 124 scientific research institutions, 24 colleges and universities, 550,000 scientific and technical staffs engaging in various fields in Shenyang. It has 8 engineering centers and experimental bases of the state level, such as National Robot and Software Engineering Cen­ter etc., being one of the main undertaking bod­ies of the State Plan 863 and the Torch Plan with comprehensive science and technology strength leading ahead in China.

A Business and Trade Center

distribution network. It has 56 markets of means of production and 457 market fairs, including 48 markets where an annual transaction of over RMB 100 million yuan is conducted. Such fa­mous markets as Wuai Market, China Shoes Town, China Furniture Town and Shenyang Steel Market have become popular markets in Northern China. There are 80 large commer­cial department stores with an area of over 5,000 square meters represented by Zhongxing-Shenyang Commercial Building and Shenyang Commercial Town and 13 department stores with a sales volume of over RMB100 million yuan. The volumes of business and commodity trade reach the top in Northeast China.

A Financial Center

The Northeast China Regional Bank of the Chi­nese Central Bank is also located in Shenyang, enabling fast development of the local finance and trade. The return of money ranks the first among all the large cities in China. There are 1,474 financial institutions in Shenyang where businesses of banking, security trading and in­surance underwritng are conducted actively pro­viding a variety of on-time and convenient fi­nancial services. Being a city opening its fincial sector to the outside world, Shenyang has wit­nessed the establishment of the foreign-funded financial institution, a branch organization of the Dutch Commercial Bank .

A City of Culture and tourism

Shenyang has a long history with many scenic spots and historically significent sites. Back to 7,200 years ago, the ancestors were living on this beautiful land. There are famous scenic spots such as the Xinle Relics, the Shenyang Imperial Palace, Imperial Mausoleum, Ancient Aerolic Hill, Shenyang Magic Slope, Huishan Scenic Spot in Shenyang. Now there are 64 key secenic spots in Shenyang, 5 of which are AAAA Grade of the state level, one is AAA level and 4 is of AA grade, ensuring a high quality tourist service capabili­ties. Up to now, star level hotels able to receive foreign guests in Shenyang add up to 106, 4 of which are of 5 stars level, 10 of which are of 4 star level and 14 are of the 3 star level. Tourist agencies amount to 118, 18 of which could handle overseas tourist programs. Endowed with rich natural and human resources Shenyang has become a very famous tourist city in China with over 500,000 people working in the tourism sector, which is essciential to the further development and prosperity of the local human foundation.

A city of Sustainable Development

Shenyang is one of the 15 sustainable devel­opment cities in the world. In October 1997, the Global City Sustainable Development Plan 1997 Annual Meeting was held in Shenyang by the United Nations, during which Shenyang Decla­ration was passed. UN Deputy Secretary Mr. Claus Topfer came to Shenyang to attend an international environment workshop in 1999 and signed the memorandum of understanding on behalf of UNEP and UNCHS with Shenyang Municipal Government.

A city with full set of infrastructures

For years, Shenyang has been devoting to the construction of urban infrastructures and great improvements have been made in terms of infrastructures as municipal works, transportation, communication, energy, environmental protec­tion and public utility facilities etc..

Comvienent Transportation and Post Ser­vices: Shenyang is an important hub of trans­portation and communication in Northeast China. There are currently over 78 airlines lead­ing directly to main domestic cities and interna­tional airlines such as airlines from Japan, South Korea, Russia, Singapore, Thailand and Hongkong etc., with a annual takeoff and landdown of over 30,000 sorties. Railroad den­sity tops the first in China with the first class modern passenger station and marshalling yard in our country, connecting the most important passenger and goods transportation hubs all over China.

The highway totals 5,252 kilometers, including expressway 236 kilometers. The round-the-city expressway joins with Shenyang-Dalian, Shenyang-Fushun, Shenyang-Benxi, Shenyang-Tieling and Shenyang-Shanhaiguan expressways, which constitutes an expressway network of "one round and five radiations". If transportation by sea is required, the coastal cities neaby are very convient, and it only takes 2 hours by car to Dalian and 4 hours by car to Yingkou. Public Utilities and Transportation: The to tal road length in urban districts is 1,664 kilometers covering an area of 29.921 million sq. m.. The 171 permanent bridges and the No. 2 Round-the-city Highway together constitute ur­ban road system with complete functions. Wa­ter supply system in the city is complete with the largest deferrization and demanganization water plant capable of supplying 1.556 million tons of water a day. The city gas covers 97.6% of the city. Daily gas supply capacity is 1.28 million cubic meters. Shenyang is the place where the Northeast China power network situ­ated. The annual power consumption can be as large as 11.50 billion kWh. Heat supply cov­ers 92 million sq. m. in urban districts and over 90% of the residence can get the heat through pipes. Urban forestation rate is 25% with 6.2 sq. m. of green land for each person.

Urban Construction: There are 530 architec­tural design and construction enterprises in Shenyang, capable of researching, designing, constructing and assisting in auxiliary work. In the last year, the investment in real estate de­velopment and construction for residence amounted to RMB 8.5 billion yuan. Residence construction projects that started construction reached over 10.05 million sq.m. Living area for each person reaches 19.12 sq. m.

A city opening to the outside world

In recent years, Shenyang has been implement­ing a development strategy of opening construc­tion sectors to the outside world. Cooperation with many cities and regions all over the world has been expanded in oreser to accelerate ur­ban construction. Since its cooperation with Changjiang Group of Hongkong in 1997 for the construction of No. 2 Round-the-city Highway and bridges, Shenayng has started another round of cooperation with freign countries. New World Group of Hongkong has come to Shenyang to construct Wangjiazhuang New Wold Garden which involves an investment of USD170 million, while the SR Group of the Re­public of Korea comes with investment of USD300 million for a construction project, which is mow the most successful example for forein cpital utilization opening and the most advanced residence designing project in the history of ur­ban construction in Shenyang. By the end of 2002, the actual foreign captal utilized amouted up to USD1.65 billion, including USD1.41 billion of foreign direct investment. The trade export volume is USD1.4 billion and labor export reaches 150 ,000 people.