A sapphire substrate manufacturing plant－funded by Richangjing New Materials in the city of Yangquan, eastern Shanxi－is among the newly launched high-tech projects in the province.

When talking about its "miraculous speed of construction", Hao Ronggui, general manager of the company based in Yangquan, said special thanks should be given to the local government.

"The efficiency in administrative services is impressive," Hao said. "And when the construction began the officials were always on site to help us solve all kinds of problems."

"Thanks to the government's support, it took only five months and 12 days for us to complete the process from business registration, land acquisition, plant construction and equipment installation to trial operation," Hao said.

Richangjing New Materials is a manufacturer of sapphire substrate, a material used in the production of light-emitting display devices and semiconductors.

With the new plant, Hao said Richangjing is expected to grow into one of the largest sapphire substrate producers in the world.

The company is also building facilities for the production of new materials such as lithium tantalate and lithium niobate, to boost its supplies to the semiconductor industry.