Last Friday, Yunnan and Kunming government representatives signed a group of deals with Shenzhen-based companies who will be involved in the development of the upcoming "Kunming Shenzhen Industrial Park" within the Kunming Economic and Technological Development Zone (ETDZ), according to Kunming media reports.

The investment agreements signed at a special ceremony totaled more than 30 billion yuan (US$4.28 billion) and include projects related to the industrial park's construction and infrastructure as well as IT- and logistics-related projects.

Of the agreements signed at the ceremony, some of the larger projects include a 240 million yuan comprehensive IT product research and development center with production and packaging facilities, a 9 billion yuan software base, a 600 million yuan export processing facility focused on the automotive sector and a 300 million yuan gem processing and trade center.

More than half of the 22 projects for which agreements were signed on Friday involve investment of 100 million yuan or more. Most of the goods produced in the industrial park will be exported to European, North American and South Asian markets.

Image: clzg.cn

Tags: foreign trade, investment, Kunming Business, Kunming ETDZ, Shenzhen

Last week the Kunming Municipal Bureau of Statistics released its initial 2007 economic statistics for the city.

Here are some of the more noteworthy numbers:

• Gross domestic product (GDP) for Kunming during 2007 totaled 139.3 billion yuan – more than US$19.3 billion – an increase of 12.5 percent over the city's GDP in 2006.

• Consumer prices rose significantly, with the city's consumer price index (CPI) – a measure of price change among a basket of several common consumer goods – rising 5.8 percent over the year.

• Food prices exhibited the sharpest price increase, jumping an average of 13.9 percent from January to December.

• Fixed asset investment in Kunming last year totaled 81.8 billion yuan, an increase of 25% over 2006.

• Investment in the city's booming real estate sector reached nearly 22.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21.1 percent.

• Retail sales in Kunming were up 17.6 percent in 2007, swelling to 56.9 billion yuan.

• Per capita disposable income within Kunming's urban areas grew to 12,083 yuan, up 6.1 percent over 2006.

• Kunming's rural net income was up 7.1 percent, with the average farmer outside of the city earning 4,003 yuan last year.

• Tourist visits to Kunming increased by 12 percent, with more than 25 million visits to the city in 2007.

• Kunming's total revenue from tourism in 2007 was 16.8 billion yuan, an increase of 8.0 percent over 2006.

• Domestic tourist visits to Kunming grew 12.4 percent last year, totaling 24.3 million visits.

• Kunming recorded 713,400 visits by foreign travelers, up only 0.8 percent over 2006.

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Yunnan food prices increasing

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Tags: business, CPI, disposable income, GDP, income, investment, Kunming economy, real estate, tourism