Zhanjiang plans Haidong as new business heart for city

Zhanjiang plans to make Haidong New District the new business heart of the city, taking a role similar to that of Pudong New Area in Shanghai.

Local officials said it is necessary for a city to develop its rural areas when the city proper is saturated with residents and industries. There are too many examples to enumerate in the fast-developing China, such as Shanghai's Pudong New Area and Tianjin's Binhai New Area.

They said Zhanjiang, a city famous for its agricultural and aquatic industries, aspires to achieve economic takeoff with three new engines - Donghai Island that features heavy industries, the Fenyong high-tech zone targeting economic cooperation with Southeast Asia and Haidong New District that focuses on modern service industries.

The provincial government of Guangdong has attached much importance to the development of Haidong New District, listing it as one of the four key new districts to "expand the capacity and improve the quality" of cities in Guangdong.

The development of the 228-square-kilometer area, including 48 sq km on the sea, started in 2013. Hu Chunhua, Party chief of Guangdong, demanded high-level planning of the new district and has high hopes it will become a highlight of the province's move to upgrade its cities by 2017.

"We have drawn a long-term plan for the future of Haidong New District until 2030," said Liang Pei, the new district's Party chief.

"Whoever takes the district government's leadership should stick to the plan and develop it step by step into a prosperous business center and a beautiful seaside town on the east of Zhanjiang Bay."

Three stages

The development plan for the district is in three stages.

In the first stage, infrastructure construction is forecast to be completed by 2016, with highways linking the district to the high-speed railway and the new airport of Zhanjiang.

Businesses will then be introduced into the district with many such enterprises expected to be operational by 2020.

During the remaining 10 years, more people and businesses will settle in the well-developed district with beautiful landscapes featuring blue sea, white beaches and green trees.

Local officials said traffic convenience is an essential precondition for an area's development.

A ferry used to be the only transportation means between the prosperous western bank of Zhanjiang Bay and the underdeveloped eastern bank, where Haidong New District is located, until 2006 when the Zhanjiang Bay Bridge was opened to traffic.

Another three bridges and a sea-crossing tunnel will be built to further increase the efficient flow of people and goods, according to the plan.

The district will also become an important traffic hub of Zhanjiang to the outside after highways are built to link Haidong to the city's new airport and to the high-speed railway connecting the city and the Pearl River Delta.

Promising land

These facilities will make Haidong a promising choice for investment, with bustling construction sites all over the district, according to local officials.

"However, developing a new district must not be simply building high-rises and developing real estate," Liang said.

"We must introduce industries that are good for the district's sustainable development and go after high-quality investments, including those from large State-owned enterprises and private businesses, to bring more dynamics to the market."

Haidong New District has sealed deals of 96 projects with total investment of more than 52 billion yuan ($8.4 billion), including the Zhanjiang branch of the Bohai Commodity Exchange and a comprehensive hospital that will be larger in area and number of beds than any other in Guangdong, Hainan province or the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, according to Liang.

As the location for the upcoming provincial sports games of Guangdong in August, Haidong New District is ready to host tens of thousands of visitors and amaze them with three shell-shaped stadiums by Zhanjiang Bay, Liang said.

He said the new district has more surprises on its blueprints for tourists and residents, including a manmade beach, a yacht club, a greenery corridor along the bay and a wetland park.

Underground there will also be a pipeline tunnel integrating public utilities such as water, electricity and telecommunications, which Liang said is an advanced city-planning concept globally for tidier landscaping and more efficient management of public utilities.

"Haidong New District will become an international business center of Zhanjiang and the showcase of the city's new image. I believe it will become a must-go place for visitors to Zhanjiang just as Pudong New Area is for visitors to Shanghai," Liang said.

xujingxi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 07/13/2015 page7)