TANGSHANBAY 4 FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 26, 2008 CHINA DAILY A new jewel rising from Tangshan Bay area New port to boast “most eco- friendly community ever built”

By Raymond Zhou outside its large shoals lay chasms as deep as 30 m, ideal for building a port that docks One turn outside Wang 300,000-ton ships. Zhongmin’s office stands a Wang Zhongmin manages lighthouse. this fledgling port, or the Located right in the middle fi rst phase of it. of the street, traffi c skirts it as As executive vice presi- if it were one of those “garden dent of Tangshan Caofeidian islands” once ubiquitous in Industrial and Commercial Chinese cities. Port Co, his offi ce has a full The lighthouse is a remnant wall of windows overlooking from the old days when Caofei- the harbor. dian was as big as a basket- When asked about com- ball court when the tide was petition with nearby ports, in — and the size of a football such as those in Tianjin and fi eld when out. Qinhuangdao, he laughed: Today the island of Caofei- “The port business all over dian is at the heart of a proc- the country is experiencing ess that can both literally breakneck growth. Demand and fi guratively be described far exceeds supply. Even with as “nation-building”. the fast expansion of facilities, As much as 310 sq km of ships still sometimes have to land will be reclaimed by wait for docking. Do you know 2020 after the provincial gov- how much it costs a cape ship The new Shougang Jingtang Iron and Steel Corp in Tangshan, Hebei province. File photo ernment of Hebei officially — the largest kind — to wait a approved the administrative day? $180,000 for rental. phoenix reborn, the coastal but one of North China’s most a vast vista of flattened The relocation of Shougang the life of a pioneer is not establishment of Caofeidian “So, the building of ports area of the municipality is dynamic engines. sandbank-filled land with from the western suburb of much fun. new district yesterday. must be reasonably ahead of like a new wing that will take The “corridor” covers 2,143 occasional billboards and Beijing to Caofeidian made “We are 40 km from the It exercises control over market needs.” the city to unprecedented sq km, with a length of 150 km sand-blowing machines on headlines. nearest town, and we have Caofeidian industrial zone, heights. and varying in width from two Though presumably to be a little recreation here,” said Xu Tanghai county and Nanbao Tangshan Bay Tangshan has a coastline to 80 km. move to clean up the capital Jianhua, an executive with the development zone with a total Caofeidian is about 80 km of 198 km, and Caofeidian is It hugs Tangshan Bay, which We put in overtime city’s air, it will help spark new Shougang. area of 1,862 sq km. from downtown Tangshan, an the diamond that glitters the is part of the much larger Bo- economic liftoff in the coastal Xu is among the few thou- The reshaping of the land- industrial city devastated by brightest. hai Gulf. to master the skills area of Tangshan. sand who shuttle from Beijing mass has been made possible an earthquake in 1976. Heavy machinery is cur- Zhao’s dream is to build it of operating new But does that mean pollu- and downtown Tangshan by Mother Nature herself: If the city itself is like a rently sucking up sand from into the equivalent of Tokyo tion will also be shifted to this every week. the bottom of the sea, spewing Bay. equipment. The less populated island? Every weekend a fl eet of 40 it out to make new land. “The economy around Tokyo image of a steel “When we talk about Shou- buses make their way towards On the east side of Caofei- Bay is one third of Japan’s worker using a gang’s move, we’re talking in the big cities. dian New Area, a 10 sq km total, anchoring on two big fi gurative terms. The capac- “We put in overtime to mas- town accommodating 300,000 cities, including the capital shovel to toss coal ity will be relocated, but not a ter the skills of operating new people is breaking ground. city — Tokyo and Yokohama; into the furnace has single piece of equipment has equipment. The image of a “It will be the most eco- Tangshan Bay has Beijing and actually been transported steel worker using a shovel to friendly community ever Tianjin, one of which is also a been replaced with from Beijing to Caofeidian. toss coal into the furnace has built,” said Zhao Yong, CPC capital city. Tokyo Bay has fi ve one operating a Everything here is new and been replaced with one operat- secretary of Tangshan. major industries — iron and computer. complies with much stricter ing a computer,” said Xu. Eventually, the town will steel, chemicals, equipment environmental protection The first phase of Shou- have 150 sq km with a popula- manufacturing, logistics and XU JIANHUA laws,” explains Zhao Yong. gang’s Caofeidian facility will tion of more than a million. high tech, and we have been An executive with Shougang The new venture, an equity start production on Oct 18. Farther to the east is anoth- approved for almost identical partnership between Shougang A blast furnace was spit- er “New Area” called Laoting, industries. One thing Tokyo and Tangshan Steel, will make ting big fi reballs the day we and to the west is Fengnan Bay does not have — but we the horizon. use of every new technology visited. Industrial New Area followed do — is the offshore oil fi eld,” A cluster of buildings on available to minimize the im- “It is in testing,” explained by Luhan Economic and Tech- explained Zhao. the west side of the highway pact on the environment: The Xu. “When it goes into regular nological Development Zone. attracts attention for its mag- waste residues will be turned mode, you won’t see the fi re, Zhao Yong formulated the Pioneers nifi cence. into cement, waste gas used to and in production we’ll rank strategy of “Four Points Along Driving along the highway It is the new home of Shou- generate electricity and waste as No 1 in the whole country Workers at a construction site in Caofeidian, Tangshan, Hebei One Corridor”, mapping out leading to the southernmost gang, one of the nation’s big- water recycled. and among the top fi ve in the province. Jiang Dong the future of not just Tangshan tip of Caofeidian, one sees gest iron and steel plants. For people who work here, world.” Sun’s prophetic vision realized in Tokyo-style shipping hub By Raymond Zhou From a trip to a family farm in Munich, Zhao learned how to install methane pits and “I don’t know where Dr. Sun turn waste into power in a Yat-sen got the information, new mode. but obviously he knew that It was later adopted in vil- off the coast of Caofeidian lages in Tangshan. island and shoal there are “We do not copy others deep underwater trenches fi t blindly. We always adapt for a port — the deepest being others’ success to our own 36 m,” said Zhao Yong, Com- circumstances.” munist Party Secretary of He likes to go among the Tangshan, whose brainchild masses and realizes the No 1 “Four Points Along One Cor- public concern goes to eco-en- ridor” is increasingly the topic vironment. Thus the Tangshan of conversations nowadays. Bay should be built as model Zhao credits Sun Yat-sen, We do not copy of circular economy. founder of the Republic of others blindly. We The financial woes that China, for laying out the currently roil Wall Street blueprint for the Caofeidian always adapt others’ may have a short-term impact Port 90 years ago. success to our own on the “major growth point” of He still wonders how any Caofeidian and the “corridor”, underwater survey could circumstances. but Zhao is not worried about have been carried out back ZHAO YONG competition and comparisons before sonar technology was Party Secretary of Tangshan with the Pearl River and Yang- available. But it was Zhao who, tze River deltas. upon his assignment as the “The deltas in southern top leader of the municipality, poration as well as Japanese China got ahead by attracting saw the emerging port not as a bankers. manufacturers of consumer standalone facility but as part Zhao himself paid several products. They have many of a much larger scheme that visits to Tokyo. SMEs that are under pressure would help drive the economy “The trips really boosted of the current economic diffi - of Bohai Rim. my confi dence,” he said. “You culties. What we need here Before he assumed power know, we are only 680 nauti- are very large enterprises at Tangshan, a dozen “devel- cal miles from Kobe.” that deal with basic produc- opment zones” more or less Zhao says he gets his ideas tion commodities such as A wharf in Tangshan Bay, Hebei province. File photo had similar functions. from what he sees and reads. steel, ore, chemicals, oil, etc. To integrate them into a “I’m a voracious reader. I We are in a unique position.” a dramatic transformation small steel plants that were ourselves or our neighbors,” the dream of becoming a whole and follow the trend often get off work at 11 pm. As well as the blessing of an as well. heavy polluters. contended Zhao. teacher. of globalization, Caofeidian And I’ve visited 40 countries undersea gully, the building An eco-park with a lake This year, he has cracked For the relocation of “I’ve always believed teach- and its neighboring areas and learned something from of Caofeidian doesn’t require twice as big as Hangzhou’s down on 267 more. residents, he assigned one ing is a noble profession and I will follow the “new scientifi c each of them.” a single plot of farmland. West Lake is taking shape In the new area along the government offi cial for each have the qualities to be a good development model” against In Sweden he came upon an “Where else in northern in the southern part of town coast, SMEs can pool together displaced family – to help teacher. But now that I’m an the backdrop of the thriving “eco-city”, which inspired him China can you find a place and wide boulevards are be- their pollutants for treatment, with illuminating the need offi cial I can also do good for northeast Asian economy. for the concept of the new resi- with such natural advantag- ing paved. and a market mechanism has for urban development, reim- the public. As long as that Zhao said that he realized dential town in Caofeidian. es?” Zhao asked rhetorically. When Zhao fi rst arrived in been set up for counting the bursement, job training and purpose is not lost, people the similarities and made par- “People associate Tangshan Not only is nation-building Tangshan, he was told it would cost of pollution. referral. will support me.” allels with Tokyo Bay as soon with heavy industry and there- proceeding on a mammoth be politically risky to relocate “Don’t worry about polluted “In the end, we did not “Now you go to talk with as he fi rst came to Tangshan fore with heavy pollution. But scale in Caofeidian and the homes and factories. air wafting inland, and there have a single complaint or any one in the street, they will and his view was agreed by I found out they don’t have to nearby area, but downtown But in the fi rst year of his won’t be any going out to the protest.” be confi dent about the future CEO of Japan’s Sumitomo Cor- go hand in hand.” Tangshan is going through current job, he shut down 901 sea, either. We won’t pollute In his youth Zhao harbored of Tangshan,” he said.