Ship comes in for Yangpu Peninsula's harbor area
Yangpu Economic Development Zone (YEDZ) is China's only State-class development zone with a bonded area and port.
The strategic significance of its location on the Yangpu Peninsula is that it's adjacent to the ASEAN trade zone. Hainan vice-governor Jiang Sixian says that the harbor "will help advance economic development of this province and that of the Beibu Gulf between Hainan and ASEAN member states".
It's also situated close to a main international shipping route, and near oil and gas development projects underway in the South China Sea.
Established in 1992, YEDZ's ship came in when the State Council gave it the nod to become China's fourth harbor area last September. The central government's goal in approving the YEDZ port was to create a hub for the international transfer, procurement, distribution and storage of goods, as well as a center for exhibition and export manufacturing. Since it was established, YEDZ has grown rapidly.
Its industrial value last year increased 184 percent to reach 41.74 billion yuan ($5.9 billion), accounting for 41.6 percent of the provincial total. Tax revenue, meanwhile, totaled 6.97 billion yuan - 32.6 percent of Hainan's. About 72 percent of the island's customs taxes were collected from YEDZ.
A two-phase development strategy has spurred this development.
The first phase, which began last November, involves developing resource- and energy-processing industries to establish a reputation as an important import-substitution processing base.
In the second phase, industrial chains will be extended to create several industrial clusters. Also, hi-tech industries will be developed, while business will expand into international markets.
Based in the bonded port area, Yangpu will serve as a hinge port for international shipping and logistics, becoming a base for petrochemicals, natural gas and oil reserves, and pulp paper. Its development mode is based on intensive layout, linked-up projects, economical production and sustainable development. The area's industry layout plan was devised by the Sinopec Shanghai Engineering Company.
A 6.8 billion-yuan investment in infrastructure has brought to the zone a road network, drainage systems, a 250,000-tons-per-day water supply project and 50,000 tons-per-day tap water plant. In addition, a 1.6 billion-cu-m-per-year natural gas pipeline project and an 860,000-kw power plant - 420,000 kw of which's production would go toward self-consumption - and a power distribution system have been constructed.
Four major projects are now operating in YEDZ. Sinopec Corp invested 11.6 billion yuan in an 8 million MT-per-year oil-refining project with annual sales revenue of 333 billion yuan.
A pulp paper project built with a 13.6 billion-yuan investment by APP has an output of 1.6 million tons per year and annual sales revenue of 5.6 billion yuan.
A power plant project with an annual production capacity of 2.2-billion kwh was built with a 1.8 billion investment - with domestic oil giant China National Offshore Oil Corporation controlling shares - and has an annual sales revenue of 800 million.
Also, Sinopec-Hainan Oil Refinery & Chemical Co, Ltd and Shanghai Garson Group invested 305 million yuan in a styrene plant with an annual output of 80,000 tons and annual sales revenue of 600 million yuan.
Currently, 22 berths are operational in the zone, including nine 3,000- to 50,000-MT public berths, seven 5,000- to 50,000-MT pulp paper berths, five 5,000- to 300,000-MT oil berths and one oil berth for the power plant.
Today, business in YEDZ is poised for growth, as is YEDZ itself. Currently, 31 sq km have been developed in the zone, but plans call for increasing that to 69 sq km.
Officials hope that by 2010, fixed-assets investment in Yangpu will reach 40 billion yuan, industrial output will rise to 100 billion yuan and the GDP will hit 30 billion yuan. Most of this is predicted to come from a port throughput of 70 million tons. Authorities also estimate tax revenue will then hit 1.2 billion yuan, while local income will hit 2 billion yuan.
The zone's 50,000 residents have also benefited from the zone's growth, which funded construction of an emergency center, Yangpu Hospital and Yangpu Middle School, says YEDZ deputy chief Wang Keqiang. Public-service facilities slated for construction include a coliseum, library, cultural center, exhibition hall, museum, cinema, golf course, coastal parks and the Liwu Reservoir Park. Residential areas are also planned for Yangpu's east.
(China Daily 04/10/2008 page18)
