Weifang Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone in Shandong province will make further efforts to support key business projects in a bid to replace old economic drivers with new ones, according to local officials.

Support teams formed by government officials have been assigned the responsibility to oversee key projects in the zone to ensure that any difficulties in the construction process can be solved in an efficient manner.

Companies such as heavy-duty engine developer Weichai Group and acoustics solutions and smart hardware provider Goertek are some of the beneficiaries of the zone's latest efforts.

On Aug 12, when Typhoon Lekima struck Weifang, members of the support team that oversaw Goertek's smart hardware industrial park and staff members from construction company Gaochuang visited the site to solve the waterlogging problem.

Because the drainage system is still under construction at the site, waterlogging was reported when Lekima arrived in Weifang.

Coordinated by the support team, powerful pumps were installed on the construction site and started work immediately to reduce the impact of waterlogging to the project.

According to the zone's officials, the smart hardware industrial park, with a total investment of 10 billion yuan ($1.41 billion) investment, is one of 10 key projects recognized by the Weifang government.

The project will create 40,000 jobs and generate 25.6 billion yuan in annual sales revenue upon completion.

"We will support Goertek to accelerate construction and ensure the first phase of the industrial park can be used by September 2020," said Li Ming, deputy director of Weifang Optoelectronics Industrial Park.

Weichai Group is another beneficiary of the zone's newly introduced supporting teams.

The 14.2-hectare Weichai New Energy Power Industrial Park is located on the site of a formal thermal power plant. As a result, many old facilities and structures such as cooling towers and chimneys needed to be removed. With support from government officials, all old and useless facilities were cleared away in four months, much faster than previous occasions.

"Led by officials in the support team, we established a team in our bureau to help Weichai solve problems," said Liu Wenzeng, deputy director of the economic and development bureau of the zone. "We will learn from Weichai to enhance our working efficiency and we will consider possible problems in advance so the project can progress smoothly."

In recent years, the zone has strived to optimize its business environment.

Government officials are tasked to establish one-on-one contact with a total of 3,091 companies to support their upgrading, according to the zone's administrative committee.

(China Daily 08/28/2019 page12)