Port Economic Zone will become a high-level heavy equipment manufacturing base in China’s coastal area

Port Economic Area was a merged identity from 2 old areas, the old port industrial area (built in Aug. 2004) and the old port production area.

Port Economic Zone is located in the Haihe River estuary, south of the shallow beach area. To the North it meets the waterway of Dagu River, to the south are the Nan’gang Industrial Zone and Textile Economic Zone. To the west is the planned New City of central Binhai New Area, and to the east is the Bohai Sea. Port Economic Zone in the heart of the Bohai Sea Economic Zone, across two rivers, vertical to the sea, backed by China’s “Three North”, and open to the world. The direct economic hinterland includes two municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin and ten provinces and autonomous regions in North China and Northwest China. It also radiates into Northeast Asia.

It is a unique area with convenient transportation and a smooth, vast and flat area. It has advanced ocean and air transportation network. As of the ocean freights, it not only lies close to the world’s fourth largest port, Tianjin Port, south Duliujian River Channel, but also has its own waterways of Dagusha, and Gaoshaling, with more than 2 million-ton berths. As of ground transportation, nine high-speed highways crisscross through the port, and “five verticals and three horizontals” backbone network has been formed. As of air transport, it is only 38 kilometers away from China’s important airport and air cargo center — Tianjin Binhai International Airport.

According to “Binhai New Port Economic Zone regional planning (2010-2020)”, the Economic Zone will heavily rely on the advantages of port and land, focusing on the development of rail transportation equipment, wind power and nuclear power equipment and other large heavy outfits development, and manufacturing, ship building and repairing as well as logistics and other producer services, and gradually build into a national heavy equipment manufacturing base, forming the “one belt, two cores and three areas” spatial layout. “One belt” refers to the functional area along the Binhai Avenue; “two cores” refers to north and south comprehensive service areas; “three areas” refers to the North, South and Central Districts.

In 2015, the economic output of the zone reached GDP of 32.3 billion CNY, or an increase of 35%. On top of this, in 2016, Port Economic Zone will strive to achieve GDP of 37.1 billion CNY, or up 15%. It will attract more than 90 big and good projects, including marine CNOOC, Sinopec equipment, Yinlong track panels, and continue to build five equipment manufacturing industry clusters.

According to the positioning of a high-end equipment manufacturing base, in 2016, the port zone will build a high-end marine equipment industry cluster with Taifu Heavy industries and Sanyi Heavy Industries; with Tianjin University’s underwater glider, Beijing Zhizaobao’s 3D printing projects as leader, it will create an industry, agriculture, health, education and entertainment as well as the space robots consisting of intelligent manufacturing industry cluster; taking Tianjin Electric Locomotives, Qianjiang Heavy Industries and other projects as the leader, it will build a rail transportation industry cluster. With State Oceanic Administration Desalination and Comprehensive Utilization Base, Bohai Ineos and other projects as the leader, it will build a desalination equipment cluster; with Longking, SCU Sewage and other projects as the leader, it will build an energy-saving environmental protection industry cluster.

In 2016, the port will attract 4 research centers from Beijing and undertake the transfer of 40 projects with research funds totaling 40 billion CNY. It will seize the “Belt and Road” national strategy to build Chengdu, Xi’an, Shenyang as connection points and extend to other countries along the “Belt and Road”. It will continue to grow marine economy, introduce more than 15 projects related to new port machinery, marine engineering equipment, offshore oil platforms and other marine industry, and accelerate the clustering of intelligence equipment industries.