a. Geographical advantage
Tianjin is located at the center place of the Bohai-rim Economic Circle right next to Beijing, capital of China. Tianjin is also the sea gateway of the northeastern and northwestern parts of China. It is the first stop of the Eurasian Land Bridge in the Far East within China’s territory, which plays a crucial role in the development of China’s regional and national economy.
The Bohai-rim Economic Circle consists of regions including Liaodong Peninsula, Shandong Peninsula, Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei province while its coverage extends to Shanxi province, Shandong province, and the Middle East part of Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Together they account for 12 percent and 20 percent of China’s entire territory and population respectively. Currently the region takes up a quarter of China’s economic aggregate and total value of foreign trade. Along the 5,800-kilometer coastline lie thousands of medium- and large-scale companies in approximately 20 cities and 60 ports including Tianjin, Dalian, Qingdao, and Qinhuangdao. The region has become one of the world’s densest areas in terms of the number of city clusters, industrial clusters, and port clusters. In this regards, Tianjin is becoming the economic engine of the Bohai-rim Economic Circle.
b. Transportation
Tianjin has fostered a comprehensive transportation network of air, land, and sea building up around the Tianjin Port.
Tianjin Port: Located at Tianjin Binhai New Area, Tianjin Port covers a total water area of 260 square kilometers with land area of 72 square kilometers. Currently, Tianjin Port, containing 81 berths capable of harboring ships that weigh 10,000-tons and up, is a top-class artificial deep-water port and the largest bulk cargo port in the north of China. In addition, Tianjin Port ranks 5th globally in terms of handling capacity and has extensive contacts and trade with over 500 ports from more than 180 countries and regions worldwide. (Picture of Tianjin Port)
Tianjin Binhai International Airport: With a 13 km distance to downtown Tianjin, Tianjin Binhai International Airport is located in Dongli District. It is a Category-1 airport functioning as one of the major hubs for the air transportation of cargoes. In 2010, Tianjin Binhai International Airport transferred 7 million passengers and 20,200 tons of cargo throughputs. There were 30 airline companies operating businesses at Tianjin Binhai New Area.
Tianjin Station: Located at Hebei District, Tianjin, Tianjin Station is a comprehensive traffic junction providing services including regular speed train, Beijing-Tianjin Inter-city Express Railway, Tianjin-Qinhuangdao Passenger Dedicated Railway Line, metro, Light Rail Transit, and China Railways High-Speed, etc. (Picture of Tianjin Station)
Tianjin West Railway Station: Tianjin West Railway Station dates back to 1909. The original body of the station bears a German neo-classical architectural style and has been listed as one of Tianjin's cultural relics protection units. The new station occupies a floor area of 680,000 square meters. Along with Beijing South Railway Station, Jinan West Railway Station, Nanjing South Railway Station, and Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station, Tianjin West Railway Station is one of the five original stations along the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway. The body of the new station is a building with two stories on ground and three stories underground. The main building and wing of the building of the station are 57 and 20 meters tall respectively with an arc structure that spans 114 meters. The lounge is 380 meters long from the south to the north. With a 230,000 square meters main body and 320,000 square meters of space in supporting buildings of the station, Tianjin West Railway Station has become Tianjin’s most modernized and comprehensive transportation hub connecting various transportation methods including high-speed railway, regular-speed railway, metro, bus, taxi, coach. In addition, it is also one of the original stations of the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway.
Freeway: Tianjin currently owns 19 freeways forming a network that is linked to the north, the east, the northeast, and northwest of China.
c. Logistics
Tianjin has built up tens of logistic centers including Tianjin Port’s bulk and freight cargo logistic center, Tianjin Free Trade Zone logistic center, Tianjin Binhai International Airport logistic enter, Tianjin logistic center, and Tianjin Post logistic center.
d. Finance
Banking
At the end of 2010, Tianjin’s financial institutes (foreign invested institutes included) had reached 1.377411 trillion yuan and 1.649925 trillion yuan in loan balance of foreign and domestic currencies and deposit balance respectively.
Brief Overview of the banks in Tianjin
Local Banks (4) |
Bohai Bank Bank of Tianjin TianjinRural Commercial Bank TianjinBinhai Rural Commercial Bank |
Domestic Banks (28) |
Bank of China Industrial and Commercial Bank of China China Construction Bank Agricultural Bank of China Bank of Communications Postal Savings Bank of China China Development Bank China Merchants Bank Industrial Bank Shanghai Pudong Development Bank China Guangdong Development Bank Shengzhen Development Bank Hua Xia Bank China Everbright Bank China Minsheng Bank ChinaCitic Bank Agricultural Development Bank of China Bank of Beijing Bank of shanghai China ZheShang Bank Harbin Bank Sheng Jing Bank Jin Zhou Bank Bank of Dalian Qi Lu Bank Bank of Hebei Bank of Ningxia Weihai City Commercial Bank |
Foreign Banks (27) |
Citibank Standard Chartered Bank JP Morgan Chase Bank Industrial Bank of Korea Korea Exchange Bank Chohung Bank Shinhan Bank Woori Bank Sino-German Bausparkasse Deutsche Bank Commerzbank The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited The Bank of East Asia Hang Seng Bank First Sino Bank Banque Nationale de Paris Credit Lyonnais Societe Generale Banque de l’ Indochine ABN AMRO Bank Sumitomo Mitsui bank Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Mizuho Corporate Bank Oversea-Chinese Bank Oversea Bank DBS Group State Bank of India |