City vows to set pace in opening up
Shenzhen will open up to foreign companies earlier than other cities under the mainland's World Trade Organisation accords, Mayor Yu Youjun told yesterday's Jingji-Business Week Forum.
'We will test the ground and accumulate experiences for other cities,' Mr Yu told the Shenzhen forum, at which former United States president Bill Clinton spoke.
Sectors leading the way would include finance, insurance, trade and commerce and logistics, he said.
There would be changes to make the city more competitive in the post-WTO era.
It would select multi-national corporations to set up purchasing centres. So far, a few large international organisations including US retail giant Wal-Mart have their international purchasing centres in Shenzhen.
Mr Yu promised a 'highly efficient, clean and transparent government' and indicated that changes would be under way next month to 'drastically reduce' administrative fees and toll-road charges to cut business costs.
