The Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce and the Weihai Government organized the Weihai Cooperation and Investment Conference on 28 August at Beaulieu International Group in Waregem. Ms Gwenn Sonck, Executive Director, Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce, introduced the delegation from Weihai.
During this conference, the Mayor of Weihai, Mrs Kong Fanping, introduced the exceptional investment environment in Weihai and potential cooperation opportunities. Weihai is the Chinese city located the closest to South Korea and facing Japan across the sea. Weihai has won the first place in the “National Civilized City” contest. It is in the first batch of open coastal cities in China, and is one of the cities with the lowest criminal rate and the best safety in China. Weihai is known as the “most suitable city for human habitation”, with neither severe cold in winter nor hot temperatures in summer. The city has a coastline of 985.9 km, accounting for about 1/3rd of Shandong province and 1/18th of the country. There are 185 islands along the coast. With 50 A-level scenic spots, it is a famous hot spring town.
Weihai has four international ports, including Weihai, Shidao and Longyan ports. It has opened 25 sea transport routes, including 9 sea routes to South Korea, with more than 200 liners per month. International container routes can directly reach Incheon, Busan, Hirazawa, Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe, and other cities. Domestic container lines directly reach Jinzhou, Yingkou, Dalian, Binzhou, Weifang, Lianyungang, Taicang, and Quanzhou, and can be connected to Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Hainan, and other cities. There are 16 sea routes to South Korea and Japan, of which the Weihai-South Korea routes account for 1/3rd of the country's sea routes to South Korea, with 28 passenger and container liners per week. There is a China-Korea-Japan land-sea combination transport channel, which takes only 40 hours for the whole process, 24 hours shorter than ordinary container ships.
The international airports of Weihai, Yantai and Qingdao are within two hours' drive from Weihai. The flights from Weihai to 27 large and medium cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Incheon and Fukuoka are in a 1.5 hour radius. It takes only 45 minutes to fly to Incheon, Daegu and Cheongju of South Korea, with 54 passenger and cargo flights per week. There are 10 direct cargo flights each week to Japan's Osaka and Tokyo.
Weihai was connected to the national high-speed rail network in 2014. At present, the Weifang-Laiyang-Rongcheng High-speed Railway is open, shortening the trip by one hour to Qingdao and two hours to Jinan. In 2022, the Bohai Rim High-speed Railway was completed, making it possible to reach Beijing in 3.5 hours. In 2022, the No 2 Beijing-Shanghai Railway was completed, making it possible to reach Shanghai in five hours. Weihai has also opened the China-Europe, Central Asia and China-Mongolia Express Trains to Germany, Uzbekistan and Mongolia, realizing regular operation of three trains a week. Weihai will build an international logistics channel connecting Japan and South Korea in the east and Europe in the west. Goods from Incheon in Korea can arrive in Europe in 18 days and from Kobe, Japan, in 20 days at the earliest, effectively reducing the transport time and logistics costs for Japanese and Korean companies exporting to Europe. Weihai Customs is open 365 days a year without a rest. The customs clearance efficiency of import and export remains the first in Shandong, and the customs clearance speed exceeds the national average by 30%. Weihai has established sister city relations with 21 foreign cities, and has economic and trade cooperation with more than 200 countries and regions.
There are 1,700 foreign-invested enterprises in the city, ranking third in Shandong province. There are nearly 5,000 foreign trade enterprises.Weihai boasts several “mosts”. It is Asia's largest medical device production base. The market share of disposable medical syringes and infusion sets reaches more than 20% of the national market, and the domestic market share of heart stents is 28%. It is Asia's largest hand tool production base; China's largest aviation ground equipment manufacturing base; China's largest tire production and export base; and the largest carpet production base in China. Weihai is also the largest fishing tackle production base in China, as 40% of the domestic fishing rods are produced in Weihai. The city is an important ship and yacht export production base.
Weihai's industrial base covers 29 out of 31 manufacturing sectors. There are 20,000 industrial enterprises, including 272 champion or specialized enterprises, producing goods in 3,000 industrial categories. Seven of its products rank first in world in market share and 18 are first in China. Its eight industrial clusters are advanced equipment and intelligent manufacturing; new medicine and medical devices; new generation information technology; new energy; carbon fibre and other composite materials; marine life and healthy food; fashion and leisure sports; and health tourism. Weihai is ranked No 1 in the innovation environment index in Shandong province, with over 1,000 high-tech enterprises; 1,873 national science & technology SMEs; and an output value of high-tech enterprises accounting for 69.3% of the total, ranking first in Shandong province.
Weihai has 11 universities, delivering 27,000 graduates to the labor market every year. Its has 800,000 workers in various industries, 300,000 technical personnel, 24 junior specialized technical colleges, and 80,000 students in specialized technical schools. Weihai, Qingdao and Yantai form the one-hour urban circle of the Shandong peninsula, which can share a large number of high-end talents, professional engineers and technical talents. The average turnover rate of employees is less than 15%. For example, the Bekaert (Weihai) factory has a total of 1,500 employees, 80% of which are local employees. The stability of its employees is significantly higher than that of other factories in Shanghai, Suzhou, Jiangyin, Huizhou, and other cities. Weihai is a benchmark city for its international business environment. Public satisfaction ranked first in Shandong for 12 consecutive years. It has a one-stop registration service for setting up companies.
If you are interested to know more about the Weihai Investment environment, please send an e-mail to: gwenn.sonck@flanders-china.be
Mr Pol Deturck, CEO of Beaulieu International Group (B.I.G.), presented the Beaulieu International Group. Mr Emmanuel Colchen, General Manager Yams & Technical Textiles Divisions, Beaulieu International Group, gave a presentation about the company’s own investment in Weihai. B.I.G. Yarns specializes in high-performance polyamide and polypropylene yarns for the commercial, automotive and residential flooring market. About 20% of B.I.G. Yarns' production is realized in China, 40% in Belgium and 40% in France. Beaulieu Fibres & Yarns (Weihai) Co was established on May 8, 2013 with an investment of more than €50 million. The company is located in Qiaotou town, Huancui district of Weihai city. The site covers an area of 65,000 sq m, including 47,800 sq m of buildings. The company has 90 employees headed by regional General Manager Frank Sun, assisted by local management and supported by a European team. B.I.G. Yarns received governmental support for the selection of the best location, from the industrial park for utilities and supplies, and from the three levels of government in the town, district and city. The company experienced regular growth over the past 10 years, accelerating since 2018. There is a good balance between the domestic and export markets and sustainable development is pursued in respect to the environment. Policies implemented by the local governments include subsidies for new projects, allowances for students, support to obtain visas, and help with recruitment.
A networking reception with the Mayor of Weihai and her delegation concluded this in-person event.
The Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce also thanks Beaulieu for hosting this interesting event at the premises of Beaulieu.
