Zhanjiang continues to be a magnet for investment, according to official data.

The city saw its actually utilized foreign investment surge by 93.1 percent in the first half of the year to reach $43.46 billion, 73 percent of the target for the full year.

The city's contractual foreign investment totaled $211.83 million during the same period, up 9.3 percent year-on-year and accounting for 53.8 percent of the city's annual goal.

Zhanjiang businesses signed seven agreements with Hong Kong enterprises during the Guangdong-Hong Kong Economic, Technological and Trade Cooperation Conference held in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in July.

The pacts, involving foreign investment totaling more than $60 million, cover areas such as aquatic products, feed, building materials, distribution and warehousing.

The southern branch of the China Guodian Corp signed an agreement with the government of Wuchuan, Zhanjiang, in August to build a power-generating project at a portside petrochemical industrial base in Wuchuan.

Involving investments totaling 21 billion yuan, the project includes a dock, a coal-fired power plant and an offshore wind power plant.

The establishment of a Zhanjiang sub-branch of the Bank of East Asia (China) was approved earlier this month by the Guangdong branch of the China Banking Regulatory Commission.

As the first foreign-invested bank in Zhanjiang, the sub-branch will offer a full range of services in foreign and Chinese currencies.

The Guangdong branch of the China Development Bank signed an agreement with the Zhanjiang Economic and Technological Development Zone during the First China (Guangzhou) International Finance Expo in June to provide 15 billion yuan worth of financial products from the time the agreement was signed until 2015.

Because the city is in a period of massive construction and development during which it is extending its industrial chain and perfecting its transportation network, the city has a high demand for capital, Zhanjiang Mayor Wang Zhongbing said.

Zhanjiang houses 90 financial institutions, with outstanding deposits in foreign and Chinese currencies topping 172.8 billion yuan and outstanding loans hitting 86.8 billion yuan at the end of last year.

Wang met with Franky Smisaert, head of business development for Total Refining-Chemical, in July.

Wang said he is happy that Total has joined the city's petrochemical project, and he said he hopes the project can start as scheduled.

Total, the China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, the Kuwait Petroleum Corp and Zhanjiang will work closely to push the project forward, Wang said.

A demonstration zone for China-ASEAN modern agricultural cooperation was officially launched in August at Chia Tai (Zhanjiang) Modern Agriculture Investment Co in Suixi, Zhanjiang.

The project, which is a crucial aspect of the company's Zhanjiang operations, includes one broiler chicken processing plant, 13 broiler chicken raising farms and a research and training base.

When fully operational, the project is projected to generate output worth 5 million yuan annually, said Ji Xiongtian, general manager of the company.

Agreements on investment expansion were signed for six projects in Suixi county in August, involving funds of 2 billion yuan.

The projects include a beverage plant of Uni-President Enterprises (China) Investment, a production plant of a vinegar drink producer and a plant of China Resources Cement Holdings.

Four projects in Zhanjiang are among the 44 major provincial construction projects announced in July that have solicited domestic private investors .

The Zhanjiang projects include railway, a vocational education school, logistics facilities and a highway.