Liu Minxia

    mllmx@msn.com

    QIANHAI has spent 82.5 million yuan (US$13.4 million) to subsidize 13 pilot projects since the first batch of such projects won approval in May, the Qianhai authority said late Sunday in response to worries that the rival Shanghai free trade zone could outshine the Hong Kong-Shenzhen cooperation zone.

    Assessments of more potential projects are drawing to a close and the second batch of pilot projects will be announced soon, the Authority of Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone said in a statement.

    The projects that have been put into operation highlight four trading platforms, including petrochemical and carbon emissions trading platforms, the authority said.

    The petrochemical trading platform has attracted 200 firms and accumulated turnover totaling 2.5 billion yuan, while the emissions platform, the first in China, has seen 185 trades completed and attracted more than 800 members since its establishment June 18.

    Qianhai’s dream of becoming the “Manhattan of the Pearl River Delta” has been plunged into uncertainty since Shanghai was chosen to play a leading role in China’s long-awaited reform of foreign exchange and interest rates.

    But Wang Jinxia, spokesman for the Qianhai authority, shrugged off concerns that the Shanghai free trade zone would pose a challenge to Qianhai’s goal of becoming a financial and yuan hub, saying the two areas would be complementary and reform zones were needed to maintain China’s development.

    “We’re not worried about Shanghai. It will help promote Qianhai and shows the determination of China to reform,” Wang said.

    Qianhai, on the west coast of Shenzhen, had attracted about 1,700 companies — about 70 percent of them related to financial services — with registered capital totaling 200 billion yuan as of mid-September.

    There are 20 Fortune 500 companies registered in Qianhai, including HSBC, Hang Seng Bank and Standard Chartered.

    On Monday, Shenzhen Huaqiang Industry Co., a Shenzhen-listed electronics trading firm that manages the world-famous Huaqiangbei electronics selling venues, said it would invest a total of 100 million yuan with three partners to set up an e-commerce electronics trading company in Qianhai, with a goal of reproducing its success in brick-and-mortar markets.

    But a shortage of details about incentives and policies within the zone, and the prospect of similar districts in Shanghai and elsewhere in China, have made some investors cautious.