Shuangliu district leads way in modern development

In recent years, Shuangliu district of Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, has made great strides in building a high-quality Chinese aviation economic hub with an industrial foundation, innovation and a livable environment, and unveiled a new chapter in advancing Chinese modernization in the new era.

The district has obtained the individual award of China's Most Happy City (Urban Area) at the 2023 China Happy City Forum held recently in Chengdu. This is the fourth time that Shuangliu has received this honor.

Aviation hub

Shuangliu is leading the development of the aviation economy from mainly aviation operations to the integration of advanced manufacturing and modern service industries.

The Airbus Lifecycle Services Center, Airbus' first aircraft recycling project outside Europe, started construction in Shuangliu on July 26,2021, and was completed on Sept 28.

Brian Hawthorn Agnew, general manager of Airbus (Chengdu) Lifecycle Services, said: "In just 14 months, Shuangliu has incorporated various technical requirements into this unique factory. Although Airbus has hundreds of industrial facilities worldwide, Shuangliu district's construction speed, industrial design level and construction quality have left a deep impression on us."

"It is expected to start operations by the end of this year," said Zhao Chen, vice-president of Airbus China and head of customer services, adding that after its operation, the project will provide one-stop services for aircraft storage, maintenance, upgrading, modification, disassembly and recycling to the global market.

As a booster that accelerates the integration and development of highend aviation manufacturing and modern services in Shuangliu, the project will achieve the recycling of more than 90 percent of an aircraft weight and promote reuse through the global second-hand aviation materials trading market.

The industrial scale is expected to exceed 40 billion yuan ($5.59 billion) by 2030. In addition, Shuangliu, a key player in the supply chain, has attracted 11 related projects with the support of the Airbus project.

Park city

Adhering to the people-oriented and eco-friendly principles, Shuangliu aims to build a multilevel park system featuring the categories of city, community, countryside and small gardens.

In January, Shuangliu's first child-friendly park, located near the district's Wuhusihai Park, became popular after its opening. Taking aviation as its main design element, the children's park is divided into three sections: an activity area for small children, a large-scale expansion equipment zone and an interactive area.

A local resident surnamed Li, who brought his son to play here, said: "The amusement facilities in the park are complete, many of which have aviation elements. Children love the park where they can not only enjoy a great time, but also learn some aviation knowledge."

"The park also builds a nursing room as well as a children's center and makes kid-friendly transformations to toilets, parking lots, seats and the corners of structural buildings. The park emphasizes the safety of children's play and enhances comfort and fun," said Liao Hui, a safety officer at the park. Shuangliu's Wuhusihai Park covers an area of about 533 hectares, including Fengming, Fengxiang, Fengwu, Fengzhuan, Fengqi, Ziweihai, Hongfenghai, Furonghai and Cuizhuhai lakes, forming a cross-shaped green belt that is 8 kilometers long from north to south and 5 kilometers long from east to west.

There are many cultural sites in the park, such as academies, cultural relic restoration centers, museums and music art galleries.

As of now, Shuangliu has established a total of 379 km of airport greenways and an urban green space area of 5,118 hectares. Its green coverage rate reaches 49.06 percent. Shuangliu is home to 11 demonstration blocks of park city and 36 residential areas with gardens at a city level. The per capita park green space area is 15.6 square meters.

People's sense of gain

Shuangliu is revving up efforts to construct an age-friendly and inclusive society.

With practical measures, it has created a network for people to enjoy a happy and beautiful life, ensuring that "the young are well nurtured and the elderly are well taken care of".

In September, a multidisciplinary team of experts from the Chengdu Shuangliu District Maternal and Child Health Hospital rescued a newborn baby born at 29 weeks, marking another breakthrough in the hospital's technical level in neonatal emergency care.

In 2022, Shuangliu launched a maternal and child care program, an innovative initiative aimed at meeting the health needs of women and children throughout their lifecycle. It provides 30 free maternal and child health services for permanent residents of Shuangliu aged 0-64. As of October, the care program has benefited a total of 866 families, with nearly 5.2 million yuan of benefits to people.

Elderly care is another important livelihood project. In this year's government work report, Shuangliu states the need to improve the"15-minute elderly care service circle", accelerate the construction of the healthcare project by BOE Technology Group, carry out the Healthy Knocking on the Door action for disabled elderly people, and strive to create a national elderly-friendly community.

Located in Chengdu Tianfu International Bio-Town in Shuangliu and adjacent to Chengdu BOE Hospital and Yong'anhu Forest Park, Jincheng Shiguang, BOE Health's first smart medical and elderly care community, began operation in October.

With a total construction area of about 116,000 sq m and more than 700 residential units, it offers multidimensional medical and elderly care services for more than 1,200 customers.

Combining the advantages of medical and industrial integration of BOE Technology, BOE Health has formed three major features: integration of medical and elderly care, shared vitality and empowered intelligence.

In terms of the integration of medical and elderly care, it achieves seamless connection and sharing between medical and elderly care services, with regular visits by experts from tertiary hospitals and direct access for medical treatment and hospitalization.

For empowering intelligence, the community is equipped with a 24-hour smart service system for all scenarios; the community not only provides professional elderly care services and a comfortable living environment, but encourages family members to live together, supports 24-hour companionship and encourages family members to enter the community.

This year, Shuangliu will launch 10 major projects for a happy and beautiful life, covering 10 areas closely related to the people and enterprises, including income, cost of living competitiveness, public services and urban commuting.

As of now, there are 283 projects implemented for the 10 major projects, with a total investment of some 45.57 billion yuan.