IS FUJIAN A VIABLE CENTRE FOR FOREIGN BUSINESS ACTIVITY?

Fujian, like many other places in China, has established “one-stop” foreign investment services centres at various levels of government since 1991. The centre is currently working with the United Nation’s Industrial Development Organisation to build up internet-based services to attract more foreign investment.

Fujian was one of China’s first provinces to open up the outside world. It is reported that a total of 123 development zones have been set up in Fujian since 1985, covering an area of 34 counties and cities with a total population of nearly 23 million people.

However, it was only in the 1980s that Fujian underwent tremendous changes. Rural responsibility was implemented. The provincial economic growth rate outstripped the national average for the first time in Fujian’s post-1949 history. Between 1978 and 1998, GDP increased by 11.9 times at an annual rate of 13.6 per cent, bringing Fujian from 22^nd ranking in 1978 to 11^th in 1997.

Undeniably, foreign investment has become the most important impetus of local economic growth. Since the first foreign investment in 1979, more than 2,000 foreign investment enterprises have been approved to operate in the province. The five years between 1993 and 1998 saw an acceleration of foreign investment, with the annual utilised amount exceeding US$4 billion. The total value of foreign trade increased from US$0.27 billion in 1979 to US$19.2 billion in 1998.

This solution offers information on:

§ a detailed geographic, demographic, economic and governmental profile of Hainan;

§ the legal framework for local law-making;

§ the legal framework for foreign business organisation and administration;

§ local tax incentives and measures for encouraging foreign investment;

§ regulation of contracts, labour management and land use rights; and

§ other activities or special areas.