Hebei has now cooperated on more than 1,000 high-tech projects with overseas countries, resulting in a rich dividend for the province. This cooperation has seen it work in partnership with a number on countries, including Belarus, Belgium and Germany.

Officials from the Czech Republic, Japan and Pakistan have all been invited to Hebei and many state-of-the-art technological and top industrial and research experts have also made fact-finding visits to the province.

Local enterprises have taken a national lead in undertaking high-tech research and developing independent intellectual property rights (IPR). This has resulted in cooperation with numerous foreign countries. Many local universities and research institutes have now installed a state-of-the-art automatic fire alarm system, developed by Qinhuangdao Footstone Electronic Enterprises. In yet another success story, the Qinhuangdao Yaohua Glass Co Ltd teamed up with the US Atofina Chemical Co Ltd to produce the first batch of low-e glass in China.

The province’s international success has seen a number of post-doctoral and academic forums held at the annual Hebei Trade and Economic Seminar. As a result of this initiative, the Langfang city government has signed a high-tech cooperation agreement with the University of National Defense of The People's Liberation Army (PLA), resulting in some 300 senior PLA officials paying a visit to the city.

Langfang also agreed a series of agricultural technology partnerships with Hungary, in a bid to upgrade its agricultural plantation structure and accelerate its industrialization process.

The Ministry of Science and Technology recently invited ambassadors from Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland to visit Zhangjiakou, a city in the northwest of the province. They discussed a number of agricultural issues, including the plantation of wild herbs, the industrialization of vegetable production and the introduction of high level techniques from overseas territories.

Other activity involving the historic city includes the Zhangjiakou ZR Fur Products Co Ltd appointing a New Zealand company as its overseas agency. The company’s products have subsequently been exported to Japan, New Zealand, the US and Europe. More domestically, the products of the local Bosun Co have been designated as national-level high-tech products.

A Hebei-based laboratory, part of the China Agricultural University, is currently enjoying high-level cooperation with a number of global organizations, including the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and several foreign countries, notably the US, Japan, the Netherlands and Germany. Some 30-40 foreign experts now visit the laboratory every year.

A national-level potato production base in the province, with an annual production of 200 million kg, has now developed strategic links with Peru and Mexico and initiated a complete industrial and sales chain.

Japanese rice experts were also invited to Chengde to help boost local production. The sunflower, introduced from Romania, has additionally been widely promoted in the city.