THE Shenzhen Municipal Economic and Trade Bureau has denied a report that Shenzhen has stopped approving new foreign-funded processing firms.

　Bureau officials said they would continue to give as much support as in the past to firms which process products with imported materials.

　They denied a report by a newspaper in South China that the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC) had decided to phase out favorable polices for the processing trade by 2004 and that Shenzhen had stopped approving foreign investment in the processing industry.

　The report had exerted “negative impacts” on the city’s efforts to attract foreign investment and caused confusion in the industry, the bureau said.

　The bureau said MOFTEC had no plan to discourage foreign investment in the industry.

　The bureau emphasized that the processing trade remains a dominant foreign trade contributor, accounting for 83 percent of the city’s total exports last year.

　Processing with imported materials contributed 32 percent to the total processing trade.

　More high-tech foreign-funded enterprises, which make small motors, laser printers and other products with imported materials, have been established in the city in the first seven months of the year, the bureau said.

　The revelation seemed to rebut allegations that the industry had caused environmental damage to China as foreign firms moved in labor-intensive, polluting factories.

　The city has eased rules on the industry, delegating the power to approve new investments to district governments.(Roger Lin)