East China's Zhejiang province recently published a new list of nine candidates for international cooperation industrial parks.

The provincial government initiated the program to build such parks in 2015. The 17 parks in Zhejiang accounted for 9 percent of the province's actual use of foreign investment last year.

Among the nine candidates, three were located in the province's less-developed regions, namely the Sino-Japanese industrial park in Wuyi county, the Sino-German industrial park in Lishui city, and the Sino-German industrial park in Jinyun county.

The province's only established international cooperation industrial park that is located in a less-developed region is the Sino-South Korean International Cooperation Industrial Park in Quzhou city. The park started operating in 2016 and has so far attracted over 20 billion yuan ($3.15 billion) in investment from South Korean multinationals, making South Korea the largest source of foreign investment for the city.

According to Yang Wei, director of the department of development zones at the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Commerce, it was the first time authorities had awarded candidacy rather than official titles for international cooperation industrial parks.

Whether these candidates will ultimately be awarded the official title depends on their performance in investment enrollment over the next one to three years, Yang said.

The title holders also face the risk of being denied the title in the future if they lose sustainable development momentum, Yang added.