LEU SIEW YING in Shantou

Mainland investment in Hong Kong surged to $1.48 billion in the first nine months of the year from just $108 million for the whole of last year, with more mainland companies using the city as a platform to go global, Chief Secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said yesterday.

Mr Tsang revealed the figures, compiled by InvestHK, to businessmen from Hong Kong and Shantou at a business seminar while making a case for Hong Kong's role in helping companies from the Guangdong city to grow their business overseas.

Some companies that had successfully set up in Hong Kong include Gome Electronics, New Hope International and Shenzhen Kingdee Software Technology, he said.

Hong Kong firms have invested US$5.3 billion in Shantou, making up 75 per cent of foreign investment. Thirty per cent of Shantou's exports go to Hong Kong.

During the seminar, Shantou Mayor Huang Zhiguang said his city had listed port-related sectors such as shipping, petrochemicals and logistics as its strategic industries.

Shantou has expanded its administrative area a further 108 sq km to cover 2,064 sq km this year. This followed last year's merging with Chenghai and Chaoyang townships, enlarging Shantou's area from 290 sq km to 1,956 sq km.

Tang Yuet-man , the Shantou branch manager of Bank of China (Hong Kong), said Shantou was well placed to develop port services to serve inland areas such as Meizhou and southern Jiangxi .

Mr Tsang is leading a 100-member business delegation to Shantou and Meizhou in response to Guangdong Party Secretary Zhang Dejiang call to help develop the province's eastern, western and mountainous areas.

Guangdong Vice-Governor Tang Binquan said the mission had a "very positive" impact on the promotion of co-operation between Guangdong and Hong Kong. "We have not decided on the actual activities we will have next year, but we will keep innovating and put into effect what we have achieved this year," he said.