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High-tech Industry in China's Minority Areas Attracts Venture Capital

With the dive of NASDAQ still unsettling the global economy, far-sighted venture capital investors have been looking at the high-tech industry developed by China's ethnic groups.

Domestic regions inhabited by minorities usually are rich in resources of living things, non-ferrous metals, traditional Chinese medicine as well as electric power.

Investors say that high-tech achievements in these fields possessunique value if industrialized.

Venture capital investor Wang Jianping is confident about the future of the hi-tech industry in minority areas.

Wang has recently been attracted by bio-fertilizer projects in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region." Bio-fertilizers, which are free from chemical pollution, have bright market prospects," said Wang.

Among the country's 53 high-tech development zones, three are inGuangxi, a region inhabited by many minority groups, according to Li Weihong, an official with the local science and technology department.

From January to November last year, the three high-tech zones in Guangxi's Nanning, Guilin and Liuzhou cities made a total revenue of 44 billion Yuan (US$5.3 billion). Their total output accounted for, respectively, 28 percent, 24 percent and 11 percentof the cities' whole industrial production, said Li.

China's other minority-inhabited areas, including the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the Tibet Autonomous Region, have also made rapid progress in the industrialization of high-technologies.

Baotou City in Inner Mongolia is now stepping up the building of a "rare-earth valley" relying on its rich rare-earth metal resources.

In Xinjiang,scientists have greatly enhanced the quality of flocks and herds by using advanced embryo transplant technology, which doubles the income of local herdsmen.

"Currently, many Chinese ethnic groups are trying to reform traditional industries by using high-technologies, which in turn could attract more venture capital," said Ning Dong, a financial expert with a listed company in Guangxi.


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