QINGDAO companies are setting up more factories in Southeast Asia thanks to preferential policies provided by the China Association of Southeast-Asian Nations (ASEAN) Free Trade Area.

Two Qingdao companies set up production projects in Laos and Vietnam in August.

The two clothing and textile companies will open factories in two industrial parks with a total investment of US$230,000. They are expected to produce 1.7 million garments every year, to be exported to Southeast Asian and African nations.

Officials from the city’s commerce bureau said the number of Qingdao firms investing in ASEAN countries had increased sharply since the establishment of the free trade area in January this year. So far, the city’s companies had invested in 52 projects in the area, accounting for about 10 percent of the city’s total investment in foreign countries. (Wang Yuanyuan, Zhou Jianliang)