By Adam Livermore 

DALIAN, Oct. 8 - Standing on a windswept hill overlooking the coastline of southern Dalian and looking towards the distant port town of Lushun, it is hard to visualize how the rolling rural landscape will look after it is swamped by the planned “silicon peninsula,” at least until you turn around and look northwards instead. An area of 27.54 square kilometers that was rural land until the turn of the century is now an extension of Dalian city. Over the coming decade this area, the High-Tech Industrial Zone of Dalian, will spread down the peninsula and become increasingly more important to the city from which it gets its name.

Over the past decade the High-Tech Industrial Zone in Dalian has developed into a community of BPOs, IT outsourcing companies and call centers, primarily for the Japanese and Korean markets. However in the past few years more and more western companies have arrived in the zone and they are involved in a wider variety of operations. Phase I of the project is currently being extended, and Phase II of the project was officially launched in September. This article introduces the current state of the high-tech zone, the plans for its expansion and the rationale behind the ambitions project.

The zone has a few special characteristics that make life here rather different from other areas of Dalian. First of all, the average age of the population living and working in the zone is much younger – the residents are software engineers, IT professionals, web designers or and technicians, many of them bilingual or trilingual. (more…)

The Tianjin municipal government has signed and agreement with the Ministry of Information Industry to construct a wireless broadband network in the Binhai New District of Tianjin.

The Binhai district will be a trial location for China’s comprehensive reform of its computer networks according to ChinaTechNews.com. Tianjin’s push to create a wireless city zone has made it one of the most powerful cities in the national wireless sector, attracting the attention of more and more international wireless service provider giants.

According to local media, advanced wireless enterprises including Google are conducting research in Tianjin on laying out wireless networks.

China will allow foreign investment in its defense sector according to state media Tuesday, as it looks to invigorate a long restricted and dormant sector.

Beijing News (via AFP) is reporting that firms producing less-sensitive military equipment and products for broader civil and consumer markets will be allowed to solicit domestic and foreign investors as part of broad plans for shareholding reform in the sector.

Defense-related companies will also be encouraged to raise funds on both domestic and overseas capital markets, the report said, citing Sun Qin, vice minister of the Commission of Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense, the sector’s regulator.

Shareholding reform in the industry is expected to be completed within “several years,” according to the guidelines.

Didn’t we just talk about pork? The maglev train that was to connect Shanghai and Hangzhou appears headed to the dustbin of history. The project has been officially put on hold due to radiation concerns according to Xinhua.

“The project has been suspended in line with the arrangements of the municipal government,” said a spokesman with the government of Minhang District in Shanghai’s southern suburbs. 

An official with the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress confirmed a major reason for suspending the project was the magnetic radiation concerns raised by residents living along the proposed route. “The government is working on the issue,” said the official on condition of anonymity.

Approved by the central government in March 2006, the US$4.5 billion maglev train track was to be 175 km long with trains reaching speeds of 450 km per hour.  (more…)

Several international companies have recently set up shop in Chongqing as more and more foreign investors look to China’s western second tier cities. With the rising costs of land, labor, energy and other inputs to manufacturing making the coastal regions less attractive to companies looking for places to park their factories, the inland second and third tier cities have become an attractive alternative, whether for export production or, increasingly, to sell domestic B2B or B2C consumers.

Rieter Holding AG, a Swiss based industrial automotive supplier, has set up a new facility in western China called Rieter Automotive Chongqing Sound-Proof Parts. The new manufacturing facility in Chongqing represents a further step in China for Rieter.  According to the announcement, the 9,000 square meter plant is located close to OEM facilities, including Ford, Volvo and Mazda, and will be fully operational by mid-year with an initial workforce of around 70.  The facility will produce thermal management packages and acoustic parts. (more…)