Kaifaqu was established in September, 1984 under the former name of Dalian Economic and technological Development Zone or Dalian Development Zone. The new name has been in place for several years, due to the much extended range of the territory including the Dalian Free Trade Zone to the south and Dalian DD Port to the east. The new name also reflects increased economic prosperity. Now Kaifaqu is a quickly expanding city, with a territory of 338 square kilometers, and a population of 360,000 including 31 ethnic groups: Han, Man, Hui, Chaoxian, Mongolian and other nationalities. On April 9, 2010, in order to fully demonstrate gathering advantage and development vitality and further accelerate the process of urbanization of Dalian, Dalian Municipal Committee and Municipal Government decided to combine Jinzhou District and Dalian Economic and Technical Development Zone and found Jinzhou New District.
Location
Kaifaqu is located to the north and east of Dalian's urban area. The distance between Dalian and DDA is about 30 kilometers. The city is within Jinzhou District, east of Jinzhou's urban center.
Dalian Free Trade Zone
To the south of the Development Zone is the Dalian Free Trade Zone.
Dalian DD Port
To the east of the Development Zone, on the way to Jinshitan, is the Dalian DD Port, taking its name from Digital and DNA of the Bio industry.
Economy
DDA had a GDP of 70.31 billion yuan in 2007, a growth of over 2000 times since it was established 23 years ago in 1984. The total volume of import and export trade is 14.92 billion yuan, which accounts for a quarter of Liaoning Province's trade, or half of Dalian's. According to 2006 statistics, Kaifaqu has created a total of 1.4 billion yuan.
Industry
Most of the enterprises in DDA are factories owned by foreign companies, especially from Japan, South Korea, Germany and the USA. Canon, Pfizer, Toshiba, Volkswagen and Intel all have factories in DDA. Domestic companies also have factories there, including Haier, the biggest household appliance manufacturer of China and the fourth biggest in the world. At the end of 2013, 69 Fortune 500 enterprises established operations in the DDA.
Commercial
The corner of Jinma road and Benxi Street is a major shopping area, with Mykal and New Mart department stores, and other supermarkets and specialty stores. There are many Western, Japanese and Korean restaurants as well as Chinese restaurants.
Foreign Enterprises operating in the DDA receive preferential tax policies. The normal tax rate in the Liaoning Province is 30% for foreign enterprises, but in the DDA these firms are taxed at 15% and certain industries receive a rate of 10%. For those overseas students pioneering in Dalian, if they are using high and new technology achievements for production, their salaries earned in Dalian will be regarded as income outside China and they can enjoy preferential personal income tax policies.
Nearby to the east of DDA is Dalian Jinshitan National Tourist Holiday Resort, where there are: Golden Pebble Beach International Golf Course, Discovery Kingdom, etc.. The Development Zone Cultural Square has a library, grand theatre, and an outside square.
Transportation
It takes about 30 minutes to reach DDA from Dalian by car. There is Dalian Metro which connects DDA with the Dalian city center via Line 3 and Line 7 connects the DDA with the traditional Jinzhou Center. Its extension to Jinzhou has started service in December 2008 and to Lüshun is in the plan.
