Quake sparks Chengdu investment promise Go back »

2008-07-18 | Southwest China

More than 40 international investment agencies have agreed to invest in Chengdu in the wake of the 12th May earthquake.

The agencies, including some from South Korea and the United States, told more than 100 local companies at a forum on 30th June they would set up funds to help nurture new industry in the city.

"In the first phase, we will deal with USD 8 million in financing," Sofmit, a local IT outsourcing company and beneficiary of the new funding, told the Chengdu Commercial newspaper. "We will list domestically."

The forum, held in Chengdu's High-Tech Zone, outlined a number of new investment opportunities to emerge after the quake, which killed at least 65,000 people in counties to the north of Chengdu.

These include insurance, medicine, electricity, cement and machine manufacture.

However, speakers at the forum said Chengdu's more traditional industries, such as tobacco, biomedicine, electronic information and aviation, were not affected by the quake.

The Chengdu Municipal Government plans to issue a series of policies aimed at giving investors concrete preferential benefits.