The Fengdu County government promises to offer conditions as favourable as possible to facilitate trade and investment.

Except those explicitly barred by laws and regulations, all sectors in Fengdu are open to business people, who may invest in various ways without constraints in operation years or business scopes, said Xie Chengli, a local government official.

"The county has hammered out a range of flexible and favourable investment policies to best satisfy the needs of investors," said Xie.

For example, investors in Fengdu are entitled to preferential taxation policies and loans that are currently enjoyed only by those investing in western parts of China.

In addition, the county has designed special treatment for investors which is determined by their investment scales and technological levels.

Any one who invests more than 5 million yuan (US$602,000) in Fengdu will be awarded a "green card" - meaning they get the most convenient access to do business and live in the county.

In fact, to guarantee a good environment for all investors, the Fengdu government has simplified formalities and improved its efficiency to provide high quality services, Xie said.

The county has just started an overhaul of its administrative practices to ensure that difficulties encountered by those investing or doing business in Fengdu can be resolved as quickly as possible.

A "one-stop" outlet has been established to cut short the time it takes investors to get various documents and complete paperwork.

Furthermore, the county government has issued a circular, requiring various departments to help business people with their production problems and difficulties they may face in obtaining permanent residential permits and enrolling their children in local schools.

To attract investors, Fengdu has also improved its infrastructure facilities.

So far, tap water plants capable of supplying 60,000 tons of water daily and natural gas networks with a daily capacity of 400,000 cubic metres have been put into operation.

Telephones, cutting edge mobile communications and optical-fibre broadband information networks have further shortened the distance between Fengdu and the rest of the world.

In terms of traffic, it is a two- hour drive and three-hour boat trip from Fengdu to the downtown of Chongqing Municipality.

The Fuling-Lichuan Railway and an expressway along the Yangtze River - which are both under construction - will turn Fengdu into an integral part of the Chongqing traffic hub.

Xie said that by the end of September, Fengdu had signed seven contracts with domestic and foreign investors, pulling in more than 140 million yuan (US$16.9 million).

He said his office is revising the county's investment policies to make Fengdu a sought-after destination for investors.

Between January and September, Fengdu's gross domestic product (GDP) grew at 11.6 per cent on a year-on-year basis, according to the county's latest statistics.

Fengdu's total GDP stood at 2.1 billion yuan (US$254 million) in the first three quarters.

(China Daily 11/06/2003 page1)