Despite its unique natural landscape, Hengyang in Central China's Hunan province ranked just 84th among Chinese tourism cities in terms of attraction, according to Zhou Zheng, chairman of SkyOcean Group Holdings Co Ltd.

"It shows that the city has huge potential for tourism growth," Zhou told China Daily prior to the upcoming Hengyang Economic Development Forum, adding that he has faith in the prospects of the city's cultural tourism industry.

The forum, which is to be held on Saturday and Sunday, aims to showcase the host city's opening-up and spur its economic growth. During the two-day event, participants will conduct discussions centering on the economy, industries and tourism, organizers said.

Zhou said he has high expectations of the event. "It will gather wisdom and support from participants to help Hengyang to explore a suitable development path."

The company has recently signed a framework agreement with Hengnan county under the administration of the city to develop a holiday resort, which will incorporate four featured tourism projects and five theme parks.

Riding high on the industries' shift from coastal economies to inland regions, Hengyang has attracted a number of major investment projects by renowned manufacturers including Foxconn and Omron.

To date, 20 Fortune 500 companies have established a presence in the city.

Government data shows that the city secured $778 million in capital from abroad in the first eight months of this year, a 15.8 percent year-on-year increase.

Domestic investment stood at 22.07 billion yuan ($3.3 billion) during the same period, a rise of close to 9.9 percent from a year earlier.

Huang Jianjun, head of the city's Bureau of Commerce and Food, cited an intelligent robotic industrial park and plant worth 1 billion yuan and a 2-billion-yuan tea technological park with a focus on processing camellia oil as examples to illustrate that "Hengyang has made marked progress in attracting large and high-quality investment projects this year".

In addition, many more investors have been exploring cooperation possibilities during their inspection tours of Hengyang.

Among them are Liu Qiang, executive deputy general manager of China Commerce Huaxia Products Co Ltd. His company plans to invest in a Hengyang camellia oil processing project.

"Hengyang is rich in camellia resources and its bonded zone can provide favorable policies," Liu said. "We have held talks with officials from local industrial parks. Hopefully, our project can settle in."

As a key production center of camellia oil in China, Hengyang is at the forefront of the country in terms of the tea's plantation areas, annual yields and output value.

The city is also known for its vast deposits of minerals including nonferrous metal and non-metallic materials.

Hengyang boasts lead and zinc deposits of more than 2 million tons, the highest in the country, with most of them located in Shuikoushan.

Its reserves of soda feldspar, a type of mineral widely used as an industrial ingredient in making glass, ceramics and soap, is reported to be one of the largest in Asia.

Its strategically valuable geographic location has helped Hengyang develop a widespread transportation network, covering waterways, expressways, railways and air routes.

The city is well positioned to serve as a key regional logistics hub with access to coastal regions including the Pearl River Delta and the Beibu Gulf, as well as Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

Feng Cheng, general manager of Hengyang Baishazhou Logistics Park, said in a recent interview that his park handled more than 300,000 tons of goods in 2015, far more than the approximately 100,000 tons handled in 2014.

The number is estimated to surpass 500,000 tons this year, Feng said.

zhuanti@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 10/19/2016 page15)