China's Binhai New Area flourishes

TIANJIN - The GDP of Binhai New Area, a new growth hotspot near the Bohai Bay in north China, is expected to exceed 800 billion yuan ($130 billion) in 2013, a local official said Monday.

It means the area will record an annual growth of 21.6 percent since 2009. The expected GDP will quadruple that of 2006 when the Binhai New Area, located in the northern port city of Tianjin, was established, said Yuan Tongli, the Communist Party chief of the new area.

The actual use of foreign direct investment in the new area has reached $36.4 billion since 2009. So far 126 companies among the Fortune Global 500 have invested in the area, said Yuan.

Its GDP is expected to hit 1.2 trillion yuan in 2016, he said.

The Binhai New Area has deepened the reform in administration and social management, land management and finance innovation, which has propped up its growth.

In September this year, Binhai New Area announced the abolition of administrative committees for its three districts, putting their administration directly under the area government.