Introduction
Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone (BJETDZ) was approved by the State Council as a state-level Economic and Technological Development Zone (ETDZ) on 25 August 1994. The first phase was planned on a 15 km 2 area. Located in Yizhuang in Daxing District, BETDZ is just next to the Beijing -Tianjin Expressway near the south 4th Ring Road of Beijing. Tiananmen Square, the heart of the capital city, lies 16.5 km north of BJETDZ.
In January 1999, when Zhongguancun Science Park (ZSP) was renamed by the State Council, 7 km 2 of BJETDZ was named Yizhuang Science Park and made a part of the ZSP. Consequently, this 7 km 2 area of BJETDZ offers preferential policies found in both national economic development areas and national high-tech industrial parks.
BJETDZ has facilities for sewage treatment, as well as, natural gas and stream supply. It is connected to the North China Power Grid. 10,000 lines cabled with optical fibers provide cable, wireless, microwave, digital telecommunications, IDD, facsimile, computerized data network, satellite and cable TV, video-phone system and Internet services.
BJETDZ Administrative Committee was established by Beijing Municipal Government to carry out leadership and management of BJETDZ on behalf of the Beijing Municipality. It enjoys the same level of authority in project approval.
As the sole state-level economic and technological development zone, BJETDZ has been a favorite destination for foreign investors. By the end of 2003, cumulative contracted FDI reached USD 4.7 billion.
Beijing has the highest concentration of talent in China. Therefore, the high-tech manufacturing industry is a natural option for Beijing where manpower and land costs are higher. Nokia, GE, Bayer, Lucent, Sanyo and ABB have set up their operations in BJETDZ.
More recently, BJETDZ has secured a few big projects, which will help it become one of the biggest bases of of IC and LCD production. The two biggest projects are BOE and SMIC. BOE is ranked the largest TFT-LCD maker in mainland China and 9th in the world. The main facilities of BOE are based in BJETDZ. SMIC is mainland China's largest semiconductor foundry and was ranked 6th in the world in 2003. Although SMIC's headquarters are in Shanghai, its plant in BJETDZ will be the first 12 inch wafer fab in China.
Designated by the Beijing municipal government as a high-tech manufacturing base, BJETDZ is expected to be a big threat to Shanghai.
