Stamford-based Chilton Investment has opened offices in Chengdu to serve its major business zone.

In March 2006, the Ministry of Information Industry approved the establishment of the National (Chengdu) Electronic Component Park within the Chengdu Economic and Technological Development Zone. It can already boast companies such as Intel, IBM, Nokia, Microsoft and Xerox.

Chengdu High-Tech zone

Chilton, a manager of alternative investments with nearly $8 billion in assets, will file an application with Chinese authorities for permission for its Beijing subsidiary to operate a branch office there.

The office will serve as a central hub for Chilton’s strategy to pursue investment opportunities in western China — a region the firm said has tremendous growth potential and is under-served by investment specialists.

On the western edge of the Sichuan Basin, Chengdu was about 48 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake that killed more than 4,000 people in May, but the city sustained little damage.
Source: Greenwich Time

Zhangjiagang Zone

On the southern bank of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and more than 50 kilometers long from east to west, 2 kilometers wide from south to north. Think of it as a long thin strip.

In the west the zone borders on to Zhangjiagang Free Trade Zone.
In the north is Nantong City on the opposite side of the river.
In the east it is connected with Shanghai Pudong Development Zone and Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone.
To the south: Suzhou, Wuxi and Changzhou.

The area along the bank of the Yangtze River is suitable to build over 10,000-ton deep-water wharves because it never silts up or freezes.

Yangtze River’s transport capacity is as great as 7 railways. And, like railways, it has its branches extending in all directions.

Which means  goods can be easily transported to large and medium-sized cities in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

Added to that is the Yanjiang Highway, which is 24 meters wide and 51.8 kilometers long and runs through the whole zone connecting to No. 204 State Highway. And for air connections Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, Suzhou Guangfu Airport, Wuxi Shuofang Airport, Changzhou Benniu Airport and Nantong Xingdong Airport in a  sense surround the zone.
Source: CMW.com

Qingdao zone (QDTDZ)

This was one of the earliest zones being approved as state-level development zone in October 1984. The zone now has a population of 300,000.

It is on the west bank of the Jiaozhou Bay and, to give it its full name, the Qingdao Economic and Technological Development Zone (QETDZ), is about 24 kilometers to the city proper directly across the sea.

The Zone accesses downtown Qingdao through the 66-kilometer expressway that runs around the Jiaozhou Bay and by means of sea routes.

The Port of Qingdao is one of the largest five foreign trade ports of China. It was first built in 1892 and now has 15 wharves with 73 berths, 31 of which are capable of handling 10,000-ton. It has trade exchanges with over 450 ports of more than 130 countries and regions in the world.

QETDZ is 53 kilometers away from Qingdao International Airport.

The zone is served by the Jiaozhou-Huangdao Railway and the expressway around the Jiaozhou Bay.

The QETDZ specializes in electronics, household electric appliances, building materials, petrochemicals, machinery and pharmaceuticals and is, in effect, a series of zones working together.
Source: Chinese Business World

Sun Zhengcai, Minister of Agriculture

Sun Zhengcai, minister of agriculture, has an article with the title: Pay close attention to grain production; always have ‘grain on hand’ on the Chinese magazine Qiushi website.

Briefly it states that the large magnitude price increases in the international grain market and the challenges world food safety is facing are hot topics that have caught the attention of the international community.

China has had four consecutive years of increased grain production and is having another bumper summer grain harvest this year.

China has ample grain market supply and prices are relatively stable, and that is making a major contribution to world food security and providing important support for the country’s comprehensive economic and social development.

China must increase grain production and agricultural productivity and build a sound and permanent and effective mechanism to support and protect grain and agricultural production.

The article is long and well organized and important. It was originally published by Qiushi website, Beijing, in Chinese but is available in full in English HERE.
Source: Red Orbit

Impression of an ecocity

Construction of the transport infrastructure within the 4-sq-km Sino-Singaporean Eco-city start-up area of Tianjin has begun and full construction of the 30 sq. km. city will start next month.

In April, the Chinese and Singaporean governments approved a development plan for the eco-city. It will be the second flagship Sino-Singaporean cooperation project, the first being the Suzhou Industrial Park.

Tianjin eco-city

The green development will help Tianjin, a city of limited resources, in having sustainable development nearby.

The key performance index includes air, water, transport, forestation, energy efficiency and waste management.

It will not, like certain other cities, pursue a ‘zero CO2 emission’.

More than 90% of the traffic in the eco-city will be low-pollution public transport.

The eco-city, which is located 40 km from Tianjin city and 150 km from Beijing, will cover 10 sq km of salt pan, 10 sq km of desert and 10 sq km of watered, but low quality, land.

Located along the Jiyun River in Tianjin’s Hangu district it will have residences, commercial space and factories, all of which will comply with international standards of energy use and environmental protection.
Source: China Daily and Green Leap Forward

Map of Zone Lvshunkou

China Knowledge reports that the Dalian Port Group has signed an agreement with Dalian’s Lvshunkou district government to jointly develop Yangtouwa and Double-Island Bay areas.

(Note Lvshunkou was previously known as Port Arthur and an alternative spelling is Lushunkou)

Under the new agreement, Dalian Port Group, which operates China’s largest crude oil port, will increase its investment in the planning, construction, operation of Lvshunkou district.

A new venture, named Dalian Double Island Investment and Development, will be established to expedite the construction of an integrated port project and an industrial zone nearby.
Source: Seatrade Asia Online

One of the best summaries of zones and how they work in China is offered by the US Embassy. It takes this history of the zones from the early 1980s and in an impartial and unbiased way gives a complete run down of what they are and how to distinguish between them.

It is of the opinion that their success largely stems from the preferential policies they offer and the safe investment environment they create. And the fact they tend to share advantages such as convenient locations, modern developed infrastructure, rich human resources and efficient management and services.

The paper reports that often the name differences refer to duty levels and import/export restrictions. Then it adds a warning:

‘The differences can be, by far, greater than the similarities. For manufacturing investors in China, choosing a development zone as their base is the first step in an enormous risk-hedging exercise. Most consider at least three, or as many as five. As every zone has personality of its own, it is essential to look beyond the pamphlets and the published information, and get down to the details.’

‘The key points to consider, however, will still be whether the added value brought by location, local administration and services, tax rebates will justify an operation in dearer development zones.’

It also mentions that in 2003 the Ministry of Land and Resources and other government departments concluded an unprecedented nationwide probe into rampant land abuses in development zones in 2003.

The investigation resulted in the shutting-down of 4,735 development zones, about 70% per cent of the nation’s total.

From there it goes on to cover the subject most thoroughly and should be mandatory reading for anyone thinking of operating within a zone. The full paper as a .doc document HERE.
Source: US Embassy

One does not normally think of zones when looking at maritime development.

In the Economic Region of Pan-Bohai Sea the ocean industry GDP reached RMB473.360 billion, accounting for 35.7% of China’s ocean industry GDP.

In the Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone the ocean industry’s GDP is RMB457.174 billion.

in the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone it is RMB 252.986 billion.

The total GDP from China’s ocean industry reached RMB1.324 trillion yuan in the first half of 2008, growing by 14.4% over the same period last year. This accounts for 10.14% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Production (GDP).
Source: English People’s Daily Online

The first phase of a Chinese-funded economic and trade cooperation zone that has gone into operation in Russia’s Ussuriysk will simplify trade procedures.

The zone, located in the city of Ussuriysk near the border of Heilongjiang Province in northeast China, is one of six zones to be established in foreign countries —  the others are Zambia, Mauritius, Thailand, Pakistan and Cambodia.

The Ussuriysk Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, approved by Russian and Chinese commercial authorities, covers 2.28 million sq meters.

More than 60 large and medium-sized domestic and overseas companies specializing in a large variety of manufacturing and processing industries, including shoes, apparel, timber, household appliances, automobiles and components, are expected to set up offices and plants in the zone.

Companies in the zone will enjoy preferential tax policies and comprehensive legal and logistics services including business registration, customs and land procedures and visa applications.

The first phase costing RMB400 million ($53 million) has seen production lines of six Chinese enterprises go into full operation, making shoes, wood and furniture.
Source: China.Com

Huang Wenhua, director of the CETDZ’s administrative committee (Changchun Economic and Technical Development Zone) attributes the fast economic growth of the zone to a turnaround plan initiated in 2005.

He said, ‘The situation was clear, right under our noses. We needed more space.’

A blueprint drawn up to enlarge the areas to the east and north.
A plan to change from only manufacturing to innovation gradually took shape.

The original 10 special parks within the zone were trimmed and merged into three — automobiles and their parts, corn processing and related chemicals, and modern services.

RMB3.8 billion  was spent in 2006 and 2007 to upgrade infrastructure, including building more roads and railways.

Huang said the area has now set a ‘green threshold’ for investment.

Huang Wenhua said. ‘No matter how big the economic benefits are for an investment project, if it fails to pass the environmental evaluation by local environmental bureaus, we cannot accept it.’

It all seems to work. The value of gross industrial output value in the zone rose from RMB34.7 billion in 2005 to RMB62 billion in 2007.

Changchun’s ranking has now jumped to 15th overall, and to the top of the list of nine such zones in central and northeast China.
Source: China Daily