Covering 1 square kilometer, the park will place emphasis on promoting industrial robots, logistics, storage automation systems and robot automatic production.

Zhang Jianhua, vice-mayor of Shenyang, said the establishment of the park will play an important role in providing technical assistance to step up the city's drive of establishing a modern equipment manufacturing base in China.

Being an old heavy industrial base that made important contributions to the country's economy in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, the city has spared no efforts to revitalize its industry.

"The park will help upgrade the city's traditional manufacturing industry and will accelerate the reform of State-owned enterprises," he said.

The park, to be finished in five years, will be built in line with international standards in terms of design and management. Output value of the park is expected to reach 2 billion yuan (US$240 million) by the end of 2003.

Xinsong Robot Co Ltd, which takes a lead in the construction of the park, is one of the country's biggest robot enterprises.

Since its establishment in 2000, the company has produced a series of industrial and specialized robots widely used in auto, engineering, machinery, electronics and home appliance sectors.

(China Daily June 14, 2002)