6 | Thursday, July 1, 2021 CHINA DAILY | 7 Megaprojects Refined business climate serves corporate needs By Hao Nan

Zhanjiang, a coastal city in South China’s Guangdong province, The business celebrated as recently collected public opinions environment here on a draft regulation about improv- ing its business environment, can be completely which will be put into effect soon. comparable to that of Local officials said the initiative city building aims to strengthen the rule of law Beijing, Shanghai, for market management in Zhan­- Guangzhou and jiang and create open and transpar- ent rules, fair and just supervision Shenzhen — four systems, and convenient and effi- major first-tier cities The Tiaoshun cross-sea bridge is put into service in Zhanjiang on a bright future cient services to better protect the in China.” Monday. Zhang Fengfeng / for China Daily rights and interests of various mar- ket entities. Qian Feng, director of Large-scale construction works get underway The city government designated Guangdong Shuanglin Bio- and key facilities are opened in Zhanjiang 2021 the “Year of Business Environ- Pharmacy’s administrative Air, land and marine ment Improvement”. It has carried center out eight rectification campaigns Businesspeople take advantage of one-stop services at Zhanjiang’s By ZHANG LINWAN strategy to boost high-quality eco- which involve 70 items across 18 administration for market regulation. Liu Jicheng / for China Daily departments and needed many [email protected] nomic and social development. categories. materials. transport upgraded Official data showed Zhanjiang’s The moves are intended to help “Officials of the zone listed all the hanjiang, a coastal city in GDP rose by 5 percent on an annu- Zhanjiang hasten the construction tions for opening businesses will be Zhanjiang Economic and Tech- application materials we needed South China’s Guangdong al basis during the 13th Five-Year of a market-oriented and interna- finished within half a workday by nological Development Zone is an and personally took our staff to the after major expansion province, held a ceremony Plan (2016-20), and reached tional business highland, and boost the end of this year. The city will important base for the city to deve­- departments to go through proce- Z for the groundbreaking and 310.02 billion yuan last year. high-quality development in the also promote one-stop services for lop port-based industries. It is home dures,” said Qian Feng, director of By Song Mengxing while, hit 414.93 km. operation of several megaprojects The added value of industrial city, according to the government. entrepreneurs to register new start- to several large-scale projects. the company’s administrative cen- [email protected] The city will start the construc- on Monday. It is hoped the works enterprises above designated size Earlier this year, the city took a ups and provide them with free This year, the zone has learned ter. “We finished the application in tion on 15 highway projects and will hasten the city’s development — those with an annual revenue of series of measures to deepen the engraving of official seals and from the Guangzhou Development just one day, which greatly facilitat- The Wuchuan section of the promote preliminary work on the into a regional subcenter of Guang- 20 million yuan or more — came in reform of its commercial affairs reg- invoice stamps. District and the Nansha pilot free ed the efficient operation of our Shantou-Zhanjiang Expressway Zhanjiang section of the Guang- dong, as well as a major develop- at 63.99 billion yuan in 2020. istration system, an important part Effective measures to optimize trade zone to speed up administra- company.” opened to traffic in Zhanjiang on dong coastal sightseeing roads dur- ment hub along the province’s Investments in fixed assets have of optimizing its business environ- the business environment have tive approval procedures and short- “The business environment here Tuesday. ing the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021- modern coastal economic belt. exceeded 100 billion yuan for five ment. fueled a surge in the number of new en the time it takes for enterprises can be completely comparable to It is planned to connect to the 25). A total of 43 projects began con- consecutive years. A helicopter flies over a cross-sea bridge in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province. provided to China Daily It has further lowered the thresh- market entities in Zhanjiang. to settle business registrations and that of Beijing, Shanghai, Guang- Zhanjiang Airport Expressway, The Guangzhou-Zhanjiang high- struction on Monday, involving cap- “The provincial government has old for market access; simplified Statistics from the city’s market other related issues. zhou and Shenzhen — four major which is under construction, and to speed railway, which can allow ital input worth 61.43 billion yuan given strong support for Zhan­- procedures; innovated services; regulation administration show the For example, the time to examine first-tier cities in China,” Qian added. Maoming city in Guangdong prov- trains to go 350 km per hour, has ($9.52 billion). Most of them are jiang’s development, so we must Economic achievements during B OOMING INVES TMENT improved administrative efficiency; number of newly registered market and verify types of project bidding As of May 10, the zone was home ince. begun construction. Preliminary transport infrastructure facilities, seize the opportunity and make More than 10 Fortune Global 500 companies have streamlined the approval for enter- entities reached 12,737 during the has been slashed from 30 working to 24,461 market entities, up 26 per- made a presence in Zhanjiang and a group of On the previous day, the Tiao- work on other high-speed railways while the rest are related to the high- progress,” Zeng Jinze, mayor of (2016-20) prise-related business certificates first quarter of this year, an increase days to just one day. cent year-on-year. Their collective shun cross-sea bridge went into ser- running through Zhanjiang are tech industry, airport economic Zhanjiang, said at a meeting in the 13th Five-Year Plan large investment projects have also settled in the and licenses; completed supervi- of 37 percent year-on-year. At the beginning of this year, registered capital increased by 14 vice, connecting eastern and advancing. They include one con- zone development, higher educa- April. city, covering a variety of sectors such as refined sion systems; and enhanced coordi- They included 3,398 companies Guangdong Shuanglin Bio-Phar- percent year-on-year. It has also western parts of Zhanjiang and necting the city to Haikou, capital tion, a hospital and the modern ser- Over the coming years, Zhan­jiang GDP Foreign trade Retail sales of Per capita chemicals, biopharmaceuticals, modern logistics, nation and collaboration among and 9,247 individually owned busi- macy in the zone planned to build issued a total of 6,037 electronic coastal tourism and the high-tech industry. Of improving the traffic efficiency of southernmost island province of vice industry. will strive to reinforce its position as Unit: billion yuan volume consumer goods disposable income government departments. nesses, up 66 percent and 29 per- new production lines. The applica- business licenses, the highest in Unit: billion yuan Unit: billion yuan Unit: yuan them, four each have investment surpassing between the Haidong New Area Hainan. Among the projects that began a national transportation hub. It $10 billion, helping Zhanjiang to become a According to the reform, applica- cent year-on-year respectively. tions for this involved multiple Zhanjiang. and downtown Zhanjiang. An intercity train project, involv- construction is a 9.64-kilometer- comes on the back of ongoing pro- magnet for port-vicinity industries. Several more expressways are set ing Zhanjiang, Maoming and Yang­- long undersea tunnel in Zhanjiang jects, such as the Guangzhou-Zhan- to open in the near future. They jiang, is being planned and Bay, which involves 2.75 billion yuan jiang high-speed railway and WIDESPREAD TRANSPORT include the Donghai Island-Leiz- transportation between Zhanjiang investment. It is a crucial leg of the Zhanjiang Wuchuan Airport. NETWORK hou Expressway, Zhanjiang’s first and southwestern regions is Guangzhou-Zhanjiang high-speed A comprehensive transport sys- With 43 container shipping routes, including six 2020 310.02 44.24 163.88 24,986.00 Environment put first to lift people’s quality of life intracity expressway, which expected to improve in the near railway with a speed limit of 350 km tem, involving ports, railways and linking with neighboring Hainan province, ports in extends more than 21.94 kilome- future, local media reported. per hour. aviation, will lay a solid foundation Zhanjiang saw an average annual increase of 8 percent and 15.3 percent in combined cargo and ters. The world’s largest passenger- Another is the Haidong campus of for the city’s economic growth, said container throughput during the past five years. By YUAN SHENGGAO Zhanjiang is making progress In early June, the 400,000-met- cargo roll-on roll-off wharf came Guangdong Medical University local officials. From 2016 to 2020, new expressways stretching in improving the quality of green ric-ton ore carrier Ore Zhanjiang into operation in the Xuwen port with a budget set at 2.36 billion Zhanjiang also plans to establish 184 kilometers were added to the city, a Zhanjiang has an ecological con- space across its urban area and is docked in Zhanjiang Port, marking area in September 2020, which yuan, which will be big enough for regional centers for innovation, 78.9 percent increase from the 2011-15 period, struction plan for the period 2020- improving public services by the port as the first deepwater port increased navigation efficiency in 11,300 students. Also, there is the finance, healthcare, business and enabling the total expressway mileage to 35; one goal is to build waterside building more parks. in South China with the capability the Qiongzhou Strait, local media city’s public health hospital based trade, and culture and education in surpass 400 km. greenways totaling 180 kilometers So far this year, the city finished to berth 400,000-ton vessels. reported at the time. on Zhanjiang No 3 People’s Hospital, a bid to enhance its ability to offer New railways totaling 143 km have opened over in length by the end of 2022. They the construction of 30 miniparks, “Our city has kept spending on With the deepwater port and which will cost 466.49 million yuan multiple urban services. 2019 306.47 41.38 183.95 23,320.40 the past five years, including 85.7 km high-speed will be extended to 255 km by the providing a comfortable and rail routes. improving its transportation sys- wharf operating, Zhanjiang plans for construction. Local authorities said the city has end of 2025 and 1,500 km by the pleasant recreational space for tem to consolidate the position as a to develop itself into a port-type Among the projects that opened built Zhanjiang Economic and INCREASED INTERNATIONAL end of 2035, according to the plan. residents. national comprehensive transport logistics hub. is the 9.36-km-long Tiaoshun cross- Technological Development Zone, EXCHANGES The waterside greenways will be In recent years, Zhanjiang has hub and to ensure high-quality eco- Zhanjiang Wuchuan Airport is sea bridge, which cost 2.47 billion Haidong New Area and several Zhanjiang has established friendship relations a complex system linking major riv- implemented an urban street nomic and social development with scheduled to complete construc- yuan. The 26.72-km-long Wuchuan major research platforms. These with 18 cities overseas. Countries and regions ers, lakes, reservoirs, estuaries and upgrade project by constructing a rapid transport development,” said tion this year and open to air traffic section of the Shantou-Zhanjiang will play a critical role in promoting involved in the Belt and Road Initiative have coastal zones in the city. number of small, shaded squares, Zeng Jinze, mayor of Zhanjiang, next year. Its supporting facilities, Expressway with an investment of the construction of an innovation contributed to more than 25 percent of the city’s With the goal to cover almost all shaded parking lots and sheltered during the opening ceremony of including the airport expressway 2.94 billion yuan was put into ser- center. foreign trade value. key water sources in the city, the footbridges. It also planted more 2018 300.84 37.70 169.73 21,426.90 the Tiaoshun bridge on Monday. and the airport section of the Shen­- vice on the following day. In addition, Zhanjiang is home to greenways are aimed at ecological than 35,000 square meters of The city made fixed asset invest- zhen-Zhanjiang Railway, are also The projects represent a gift to the six universities and polytechnics A POOL OF INNOVATORS conservation, safeguarding the city, flower beds, which have improved Zhanjiang is also home to more than 300 ments in transport exceeding 70 under construction. Communist Party of China ahead of with more than 130,000 students in high-tech businesses, 216 of which were created cultural promotion, landscape con- the city’s appearance. billion yuan ($10.82 billion) during The new airport is designed for a the 100th anniversary of its found- total, paving the way to build a cen- during the past five years. The number of struction and the leisure industry Nowadays, the blue sky in the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), yearly throughput of 5.1 million ing. They will also help to solidify ter of culture and education. research institutions has increased to 389 in the as a whole. Zhanjiang has become one of the official statistics indicate. passengers. It will be capable of the foundation of the city’s develop- As a port city, Zhanjiang seeks to city, including 12 key provincial-level labs. According to Zhanjiang Daily, The coastal city of Zhanjiang boasts an appealing natural most important features of the Thanks to the hefty investment, handling 31,000 tons of cargo and ment in the 14th Five-Year Plan increase its ties with the free trade the city has invested 1.97 billion environment. Li Bo / for China Daily city. In recent years, local authori- Zhanjiang boasts a transport sys- 47,400 aircraft arrivals and depar- (2021-25), local officials said. port in South China’s Hainan prov- Major goals during the 14th Five-Year Plan yuan ($304.72 million) in the water ties have taken many measures, tem involving the sea, railways, tures annually. “Zhanjiang is going all out to turn ince to boost its marine industries (2021-25) system protection and restoration such as developing clean energy highways and aviation. It was even Official data showed fixed invest- itself into a regional subcenter of such as marine transportation and 2017 282.40 34.56 157.81 19,631.60 project in the central urban area its goal of realizing green develop- all kinds of pollutants. and banning the burning of waste included in an overall plan for west- ments in Zhanjiang’s road trans- Guangdong and a major develop- ocean energy exploration. Zhanjiang will advance the construction of Guangdong since 2019. ment. Since the project begun in June in open air, to tackle air pollution. ern land and sea transportation port industry amounted to 2.04 ment point of the modern coastal Meanwhile, the two regions will province’s subcenter city, creating a modern industrial As a coastal city in Guangdong Baosteel invested more than last year, pollutant emissions From 2018-20, the city system featuring local characteristics and substantially released by the National Develop- billion yuan in first four months of economic belt,” Cao Xing, executive step up cooperation in the modern improving its innovation capacities. province, Zhanjiang is home to a 200 million yuan to apply have met the latest national stan- remained among the top three ment and Reform Commission in this year, a year-on-year rise of 27.9 vice-mayor of the city, said at the cer- service industry. Together, they will large number of high-profile indus- advanced pollution control tech- dards. The utilization rate of places in the province in terms of 2019. percent. emony. build an array of tourism attrac- The city aims to provide all-around upgrades to its trial projects. It is also making nologies and realize deep treat- water resources reached 98.75 the air quality index. In 2020, the The city’s modern transportation Guan Yu, chief economist at the Liu Hongbing, the new Party sec- tions and resorts. Zhanjiang also modern infrastructure, building itself into a national efforts to cut down energy con- ment and recycling of industrial percent and the reuse rate of sew- AQI compliance rate reached 96.7 comprehensive transport hub. system is represented by such infra- Zhanjiang industry and informa- retary of Zhanjiang, announced the intends to set up a base to offer veg- sumption and emissions. wastewater in its plant. age reached 76 percent. percent and the concentration of structure as Zhanjiang Wuchuan tion technology bureau, said bet- start of the operation and construc- etables and other agricultural The city is set to become a center for international The Zhanjiang base of Baosteel Zhongke (Guangdong) Refin- The BASF Guangdong Verbund six major pollutants were all kept Airport, five high-speed railway ter transport infrastructure will tion of the projects that day. products to Hainan. 2016 258.48 30.44 143.30 17,934.40 businesses, an emerging popular investor destination Iron and Steel invested 6.4 billion ery and Petrochemical Project, site is also committed to building within national standards. lines and a maritime channel that shorten the time and distance In recent years, the city has priori- It will forge ahead with reforms and an opening-up highland in Guangdong province. yuan in environmental protection whose total investment in envi- itself into a model project of energy The concentration of PM2.5 — can hold 400,000-ton ships. between Zhanjiang and the Pearl tized the development of the port- and further expand opening-up in at the beginning of its construc- ronmental protection at its plant conservation and environmental particulate matter with a diame- Zhanjiang’s length of highways River Delta and help the city to based industry, coastal tourism, the future to provide a vital backup tion. reaches up to 3.7 billion yuan, is protection. It plans to adopt higher ter of 2.5 micrometers or less — in reached 22,400 km by the end of better integrate into the Guang- special and advantageous agricul- to the country’s dual circulation environment of the modern coastal city, thus increasing Adopting 116 leading environ- said to adopt world-leading envi- technical indicators so that its the city is 21 micrograms per residents’ sense of gain, happiness and security. 2020, ranking second in Guang- dong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater ture, and the sector related to mili- development pattern, according to mental protection technologies in ronmental protection technology waste­water discharge can be cubic meter, the lowest level since dong. Expressway length, mean- Bay Area. tary-civilian integration in its the city government. Source: the Zhanjiang city government CHINA DAILY the industry, the project is close to and stringent measures to reduce reduced by more than 85 percent. 2015.

in expanding the city’s five advanced manufacturing clusters Investments worth billions help create provincial subcenter — green steel, green petrochemi- Authorities gear up effort to continue rural vitalization campaign cals, high-end papermaking, green energy and new energy vehicles — By Hao Nan crude oil and produce 800,000 tons naces have reached target output. and in promoting the city’s high- By Song Mengxing Zhang Jianwen, deputy secretary- rural revitalization in 2019. turing Guangdong cuisine to help [email protected] of high-end ethylene products Construction of the No 3 blast fur- quality development in the years to general of the city’s government, The city has relied heavily on lift local people out of poverty in annually. nace started in March 2019 and is come, local officials said. Zhanjiang renamed its poverty said the center needs to launch pro- industrial development for rural 2017. It set up four provincial-level Zhanjiang has been growing The project is expected to realize scheduled to be finished this The improved business environ- relief and development office the jects to nurture skilled farmers and revitalization, aiming to establish Guangdong cuisine master studios smoothly into a regional subcenter an annual industrial output value month. ment has helped Zhanjiang draw rural revitalization bureau recently foster leading companies and farm- modern agricultural systems and and four provincial-level Guang- of Guangdong province and is of more than 60 billion yuan. Out Between 2017-20, it generated more attention from Fortune Glob- to consolidate poverty alleviation ers’ cooperatives. promote the healthy development dong cuisine training centers that building a modern coastal econom- of this, it is expected to generate total profits of more than 10 billion al 500 companies. The city now has results and make rural areas thrive. It should help agricultural profes- of its agricultural economy. The provided training to poor laborers. ic belt through its gigantic industri- profits and taxes at a combined val- yuan. Its industrial output value projects invested in by more than 10 The new bureau also promotes sionals, who are well educated, moves are highlights of the city’s Thanks to effective implementa- al projects. ue of more than 26 billion yuan a exceeded 149 billion yuan, account- such companies. the living environment in villages aware of technologies and good at poverty alleviation and rural revital- tion plans for rural revitalization, The port city, located in the less- year. ing for 21 percent of the city’s total. During the 14th Five-Year Plan and a new round of rural reforms, operations, to become a force of ization. many villages in Zhanjiang have developed western area of Guang- Also, downstream industries The $10 billion BASF project (2021-25), the city government said local authorities said. rural revitalization, Zhang said. Zhanjiang has built four national- gained popularity with tourists. dong, is home to several large worth some 200 billion yuan will began construction in November it hopes to introduce new projects Zhanjiang’s first rural revitaliza- Official statistics showed Zhan­- level and 14 provincial-level indus- Fangpo village in Xuwen county investments, including the Zhong- benefit from the project, according 2019. with a total investment of 300 bil- tion academy was launched on jiang once had 81,680 poor house- trial parks for developing modern is a highlight of Guangdong’s coun- ke (Guangdong) Refinery and Pet- to the city government. The first batch of plants, which lion yuan. Of this sum, more than March 18. It is the third of its kind holds and an impoverished agriculture in recent years. These tryside tours. It received more than rochemical project, Baosteel Between January and May, the are expected to be operational in 40 percent will be used in industrial nationally after those opened in Bei- population of 233,737, accounting have helped 45,559 farmers to find 300,000 visits which helped more project and BASF’s smart petro- Zhongke project refined nearly 6 2022, will produce engineering projects. jing and Si­chuan province. It is for one-seventh of Guangdong prov- jobs. than 150 villagers into employment chemical project. million tons of crude oil and pro- plastics and thermoplastic polyure- To realize this goal, Zhanjiang expected to train professionals in ince’s poor population. All these Zhanjiang earmarked 88.74 mil- in 2020. Its tourism revenue June 16 marks the first anniversa- duced 340,000 tons of ethylene thane to serve the increasing needs plans to strengthen its port-based the city to modernize agriculture people in Zhanjiang had escaped lion yuan to support 90 poor villages reached about 28 million yuan and ry of Zhongke’s operation. With an products. of various industries in southern The Ore Zhanjiang carrier is guided to dock at Zhanjiang Port in industries and build a large indus- and implement the city’s rural revi- poverty by the end of May 2020. to develop specialty products and the per capita income of villagers investment of more than 44 billion Another mammoth project is China and throughout Asia. The June. Chen YIzhong / for China Daily trial park covering an area of 500 talization strategy. A total of 284,000 impoverished industries in recent years. It has fos- amounted to 32,000 yuan last year. yuan ($6.81 billion) in its first being built by Baosteel, one of Chi- whole project is planned to be com- square kilometers. It will also play a role in cement- people were transferred elsewhere Villagers celebrate their poverty alleviation success during a flash tered 178 large leading agricultural Wencun village in Wuchuan city, phase, the project is the biggest of na’s largest steel manufacturers. plete by 2030. The park will focus on developing ing Zhanjiang’s achievements in for employment between 2016-20. mob event in Zhanjiang. provided to China Daily companies in recent years. under the administration of Zhan­- its kind put into operation during The project, which became opera- Following suit, Air Liquide, a China specialties hub in the city in the world. “With their help, Zhan­- new energy vehicles, auto parts, poverty alleviation, solving prob- Per capita disposable income of The city also gave priority to jiang, has become noted as the time- the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) by tional in 2015, is tasked with elimi- world leader in gases, technologies March. jiang is speeding up the construc- new materials, intelligent automo- lems related to farmers and helping those people had increased from boosting the living environment in honored home of sweet potatoes in China Petrochemical Corp. Also nating outdated capacity and is and services for industry and Guan Yu, chief economist with the tion of a subcenter in Guangdong bile equipment, equipment manu- plan and manage sectors of modern some 4,970 yuan ($780) in 2015 to talization nationally in January monthly basis and conducted an rural areas. It has improved roads China. As a result, it has expanded its known as Sinopec, the company is aiming to become one of the world’s health, decided to invest in the city Zhanjiang bureau of industry and and a major growth pole of a mod- facturing, petrochemicals and steel, agriculture, officials said. 14,736 yuan in 2020, a rise of 196.51 2018. appraisal annually. for villages, renovated numerous market for poverty alleviation prod- one of Asia’s biggest oil refiners. most efficient green production in 2020. Dow, a materials science information technology, said the ern coastal economic belt in the said Cao Xing, executive vice-mayor A training center for rural revitali- percent. It announced the rankings of Zhanjiang was evaluated as dilapidated buildings and guaran- ucts. The per capita income of its vil- The Zhongke project is designed bases for carbon steel. leader, signed a memorandum of projects have many great advanta- province.” of Zhanjiang. The city is currently zation professionals was established Zhanjiang took the lead in formu- county-level regions’ rural living “excellent” in Guangdong’s per- teed safe drinking water. lagers was 27,263 yuan in 2020, four to refine 10 million metric tons of So far, its No 1 and No 2 blast fur- understanding to launch a South ges both in China and throughout These projects will play a key role home to 20 industrial parks. on the same day in Zhan­jiang. lating a city-level plan for rural revi- environment improvement on a formance appraisal of promoting Zhanjiang created a project fea- times more than that of 2015.

This spread is sponsored by the Zhanjiang city government.