XINING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- National economic and technological development zones (NETDZ), which have embodied China's rapid economic development over the past two decades, grew at 20 percent year-on-year in industrial added value in 2005.

    Sources attending a national meeting on NETDZ held in Xining, capital of northwest China's Qinghai Province, said that China's 49 NETDZ realized 428.9 billion yuan (53.6 billion U.S. dollars) in industrial added value in 2005.

    Statistics from the meeting suggested that NETDZ, which are small districts often located within cities, employ more than 3.4 million people nationwide. Exports from the zones were worth 78.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2005, up 41.6 percent over the previous year and account for 14.35 percent of the national total. They used 9.1 billion U.S. dollars, or 21 percent of foreign investment that flowed into China last year.

    NETDZ have become magnets for assimilating highly-educated professionals and skilled workers. So far, NETDZ have accommodated 3,200 high-tech companies, which are the backbone of NETDZ. The high-tech companies accounted for 48 percent of NETDZ's total revenue last year.

    After two decades of development, the zones are now home to 65 percent of the country's export-oriented new high-tech firms and 72 percent export-oriented machinery firms. Enditem