Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province, will spare no efforts in supporting the development of the Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone in the province, said a conference convened over the weekend, Pingtan Times reported on April 15.

The third Fuzhou-Pingtan Joint Session summarized work achievements in the past 14 months and covered a wide range of areas including transportation construction, a resource sharing platform (for pension, employment, healthcare and education), industrial connections and development.

In the next phase, Fuzhou will expand its involvement in Pingtan's opening-up and development by strengthening industrial cooperation. It will also build more engineering projects in Pingtan, boost talent and cadre communication, and make use of Pingtan's preferential policies from the central government to realize common development, said the conference.

The Fuzhou-Pingtan collaboration has come away with fruitful results, according to the work report.

By March, investment for the Yuping Expressway (linking Fuqing in Fuzhou to Pingtan) has amounted to 1.1 billion yuan ($178 million) since its start of construction, accounting for 77 percent of the project budget. Investment for the Changping Expressway (Guhuai to Songxia section) has totaled 326 million yuan, taking up 12.01 percent of the budget.

The preparatory work of a water transfer project designed to divert water from the Min River to Pingtan is well underway. Fuzhou will also assist in the construction of an 11-kilovolt substation in Pingtan to meet demand. A natural gas engineering project is also being planned.

Fuzhou has also pledged to help Pingtan in industries of ocean engineering, ship maintenance, electronic information and new energy. It will also help attract investments from Taiwan.

A financial center registered in Pingtan and operated in Fuzhou will be jointly built. It will join the Haixi Equity Exchange Center, which is expected to open later in April, to provide better financial services for enterprises, according to the report.

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Michael Thai