Building Dongying city into a regional industry, service hub

Beijing, Tianjin municipalities and Hebei province to transfer advanced equipment manufacturing, information technology and logistics businesses to northern Shandong, Song Mengxing reports.

Dongying, an industrial city lying on the northern coast of Shandong province, is fostering advanced industries and focusing on innovation to boost its economy, local officials said.

They said the city is promoting and improving industrialization, while its leading sectors, such as rubber tire and auto parts, nonferrous metals, petroleum equipment and petrochemical engineering, are developing well to support the city's economy.

Local emerging industries are also thriving. Among them are new energy, next generation information technology, new materials, modern biology and medicine.

At a promotional conference held in Beijing on June 17 for Dongying's integration into the national Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei collaborative development strategy, Dongying signed 69 projects worth some 69.96 billion yuan ($10.3 billion). These involved fields such as modern agriculture, advanced equipment manufacturing, e-commerce and tourism.

Shen Changyou, Party chief of Dongying, said that the city will receive advanced equipment manufacturing, information technology and logistics industries from Beijing and Tianjin. Advanced technologies and professionals from the two cities will also be introduced to Dongying, Shen said.

"We will also boost modern services and work to build Dongying into a regional service center of the Yellow River Delta," Shen said.

In recent years, the city has promoted modern services, including finance and insurance, modern logistics and scientific and technological services. It has also developed emerging services such as cultural tourism and education training.

Local officials said the service sector will become a new engine for the city's economic development.

They said Dongying promoted innovation-driven development, which focuses on scientific and technological innovation during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-15).

Junma Petroleum Equipment Manufacturing Co Ltd, just one among many local innovative companies, focuses on research and development, design, production and services for advanced petroleum equipment.

Xiao Hailong, the company's assistant president, said that Junma currently has 200 workers and potential production capacity worth 3.6 billion yuan, which amounts to work for more than 8,000 employees in the past.

A fully automatic production line of petroleum equipment was recently in its trial phase in the company's manufacturing shop. The company promotes scientific research innovation and has 42 invention patents, as well as 35 software copyrights.

City-level and county-level governments in Dongying earmarked some 1.84 billion yuan for science and technology during the 12th Five-Year Plan period. By the end of 2015, the city had provided loans of nearly 1.55 billion yuan to 98 scientific and technological companies.

Zhao Haozhi, mayor of Dongying, said that the city plans to build regional scientific and technological innovation service systems, to offer platforms for commercialization of scientific and technological achievements, and to become a demonstration area for professionals' growth and development.

To attract high-level professionals, the city's government has set up prizes given to entrepreneurs and scientific and technological personnel who have made prominent contributions to innovation and entrepreneurship in Dongying.

The city has founded six work centers for attracting overseas professionals and transferring technologies, and has organized national experts to visit Dongying in recent years.

The city is home to 285 scientific and technological enterprises and more than 100 high-tech companies. High-tech sectors account for nearly 35 percent of the city's total industrial output value.

Approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Dongying became one of the first pilot cities in 2013 for building scientific and technological innovation service systems, according to the city government's official website.

The city was listed as a nationally advanced city for scientific and technological progress by the Ministry of Science and Technology in 2013.

Contact the writer at songmengxing@chinadaily.com.cn