A 30-SQUARE-KILOMETER area within the Shenzhen-Shanwei Special Cooperation Zone was designated as the inception point for an overall venture expected to generate between 6 billion yuan (US$974 million) and 8 billion yuan in land development and infrastructure construction.

    The special cooperation zone is part of a provincial poverty alleviation project in which Shenzhen is investing capital while bringing technology and human talent to the more easterly city of Shanwei. The overall goal is to encourage development in Shanwei, the Daily Sunshine reported.

    The zone spans 463 square kilometers and of that the 30-square-kilometer inception area comprises four districts in Shanwei. A 3-square-kilometer parcel within the inception area was selected as the initial development core. This year the core is expected to draw investment of more than 3.5 billion yuan.

    An investment ranging from 6 billion yuan to 8 billion yuan is required for the initial development of the inception area, said He Xuewen, vice mayor of Shanwei. He also heads the special cooperation zone’s management committee.

    He explained that the huge fiscal demand is driving the committee to seek investment from both governmental and social capital sources.

    Shenzhen Municipal Government plans to invest 300 million yuan in the zone and Shanwei Municipal Government will contribute the land, valued at 200 million yuan. Guangdong Provincial Government will also offer 150 million yuan from its industrial park support funds.

    More than 300 enterprises have visited Shanwei to survey the investment environment and discuss the investment plan. Included among those are China Merchants Group and Shenzhen-based Huawei Technologies. (Zhang Yang)