The Republic of Korea (ROK) has become the leading foreign investor in east China's coastal province of Shandong by funding 9,167 projects in the province.

The figure accounted for one-fourth of the total foreign-financed enterprises in Shandong and one-third of the projects funded by ROK firms in China by the end of September this year, according to governmental statistics.

Shandong had used US$8.36 billion of ROK investment by the end of September, accounting for 20 percent of the total amount of used foreign investment in the province, or two-fifths of the total ROK investment in China.

Sources said that great potential exists in Shandong-ROK cooperation in the fields of electronics, semiconductor, automobile, ship-building and petrochemical industries.

It is learned that more than 6,000 of the 300,000 small and medium-size manufacturing enterprises in ROK have the intention to expand their businesses in China's eastern coastal areas, especially in Shandong Province.

(Xinhua News Agency November 10, 2003)