A seaside square.	One of Weihai’s four international-standard bathing beaches.

The ancient city of Weihai lies on the eastern tip of the Shandong Peninsula. It enjoys an excellent geographical location, as it is situated at the center of the economic circles of the Bohai-Rim and Northeast Asia. It looks northwards across the sea to the Liaodong Peninsula, and eastwards to South Korea and Japan. Today, the city is reputed as one of the best-developed and dynamic economic powerhouses along China’s eastern seaboard. It ranks among the country’s top ten cities in terms of overall economic strength and investment environment.

Weihai’s picturesque natural scenery and its four distinct seasons make it a popular summer resort and tourist destination. The United Nations twice honored the city with its Best Practices to Improve the Living Environment Award, and also conferred on it the prestigious UN Habitat Scroll of Honor Award.

The Weihai New and High-Tech Development Zone was established on March 6, 1991 as one of the first three “Torch Program” development zones. The Torch program is a national-level science and technology development project initiated by the Chinese government and undertaken by the Ministry of Science and Technology. The Weihai New and High-Tech Development Zone is funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Shandong provincial government and the Weihai municipal government.

In 2000, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation designated the Weihai New and High-Tech Development Zone as one of the country’s 16 foreign trade export production bases. In 2001 it passed the ISO14001 environment management system certification, and the following year the State Administration of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Science and Technology named it a national ISO14000 demonstration zone.

Over the past 15 years, the zone’s main economic indexes have maintained an astounding average annual growth of 40 percent. In 2005 its total industrial, technological and trade revenue amounted to RMB 37 billion, a 35 percent increase over the previous year; fixed asset investment hit RMB 4.92 billion, an increase of 31 percent; industrial output value reached RMB 36 billion, an increase of 36 percent; total fiscal revenue amounted to RMB 950 million, an increase of 47 percent; and it notched RMB 520 million in local fiscal revenues, an increase of 44 percent.

The zone’s rapid economic growth is supported by the development of local educational and scientific research institutions. Renowned institutes of higher education like the 100-year-old Shandong University and the Harbin Institute of Technology have opened up campuses in the zone, and 19 schools of higher learning and 17 scientific and technological research institutions have built R&D centers there. A university town is taking shape in the zone. What’s more, it has an industrial park for returned overseas students, a research station for post-doctorate students, and an industrial incubator. Some 120 technological research projects have so far come to fruition in the zone.

The zone’s 30-kilometer-long coastline is girdled by green pine forests and marked by four international-standard bathing beaches. The zone is 4 kilometers from an international seaport, 10 kilometers from the railway station and 40 kilometers from the international airport. In the next five years, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the provincial and municipal governments plan to build another 10 industrials parks, transforming the Weihai New and High-Tech Development Zone into a modern science and technology town on the seaside.