An interview with Wang Zhongbing, mayor of Zhanjiang, by China Daily

Jan 26, 2015

(collated on Dec 31, 2014, according to audio recording)

On December 31, 2014, Wang Zhongbing, mayor of Zhanjiang city, answered questions about the revision of the municipal government’s English website, Zhanjiang’s economic and social development, the construction of major projects and other issues raised by Tom Clifford, a well-known foreign journalist from China Daily, in an interview. The interview follows:

                 English website: An open window connecting Zhanjiang with the world

Tom Clifford: Let me begin by congratulating the Zhanjiang municipal government on the new version of its English website. What changes do you think the website will bring to Zhanjiang?

Wang: The new version of the English website of the Zhanjiang municipal government is the latest achievement of our deepening cooperation with China Daily. China Daily has been caring for and supporting the development of Zhanjiang’s economic development over a long period, especially since 2013. We have published hundreds of articles advertising and promoting the revitalization and development of Zhanjiang. The new English website is an important link connecting Zhanjiang and the rest of the world, marking that the IT application and the opening-up of our city have stepped into a new stage. Zhanjiang’s revitalization and development calls for not only the painstaking efforts of eight million Zhanjiang fellows, but also requires opening-up, cooperation and development. The new version of the English website will serve as a platform through which we can deliver the new image and development of Zhanjiang to the outside world, thus making it better known to the world for its achievements. Zhanjiang people will go global and integrate with the rest of the world with greater confidence and at a faster pace.

Tom Clifford: What major changes have taken place in Zhanjiang’s economic and social development in 2014?

Wang: 2014 witnessed the continuous efforts of Zhanjiang people. Over the past year, significant changes have taken place in Zhanjiang in five major aspects. First, investment has been increasing. Total fixed-asset investment has reached 100 billion yuan ($16.01 billion), and investment has been made in more areas, including industry, transportation and other fields, covering both urban and rural investment. Second, development has been increasingly open. The State Council has formally approved Zhanjiang to set up a bonded logistics center (type B). It also authorized Baoman and Donghai Island, and Zhanjiang Harbor, to expand opening-up to the outside world. Now China is constructing the “One Belt and One Road” (Silk Road economic belt and Maritime Silk Road in the 21st Century). The “One Road” is closely related to Zhanjiang, the strategic hub of the Maritime Silk Road in the 21st century. We are integrating the economic development of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, and advancing the Beibu Gulf Rim integrative development. The integrative development of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces mainly aims to forge three economic belts respectively along the Beibu Gulf, the Xijiang River-Pearl River and the Guiyang-Guangzhou High-Speed Rail. The heartlands of Zhanjiang, which were mainly concentrated in the southwestern provinces in the past, now have expanded to the economic belts along the Yangtze River. Third, it has become more and more popular. The passenger flow volume of Zhanjiang Airport has exceeded one million. Twenty domestic flights have been opened. A Hong Kong air route has been opened and encrypted, and the Southeast Asia route will be available soon. The construction of Zhanjiang International Airport has entered into a substantial phase as construction is scheduled to start by the end of 2015. What’s more, the pouring in of tourists from surrounding cities and other places, especially the success of the China Ocean Economy Exposition, has raised attention both at home and abroad, with more than 110,000 visitors per day, showing Zhanjiang’s new image of being open and confident. Fourth, the air quality is improving. The city’s air quality has ranked first in Guangdong province for three consecutive quarters. Fifth, the city is becoming more and more beautiful. Flowers bloom and the sun shines everywhere in the city. The streets are cleaner, and people are more and more civilized.

The past year also witnessed two other impressive events. First, the throughput of Zhanjiang Harbor reached 200 million tons, breaking the second “100 million tons” since six years ago, and its return as one of China’s top 10 ports is just around the corner. Second, natural disasters are frequent callers of Zhanjiang. 2014 saw a windstorm disaster, and super typhoons “Rammasun” and “Sea Gull” attacked Zhanjiang over 60 days between July and September. When Rammasun landed, the strongest wind near its center reached level 17, making it the strongest typhoon to hit Guangdong since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Wherever the wind swept, it caused devastation. However, due to the lessons drawn from the past and our united efforts to fight the typhoon, no life was claimed.

                     Zhanjiang today: Beautiful harbor city, modern steel city

Tom Clifford: Yesterday, we visited the base of Baosteel Group Corporation in Zhanjiang that will be put into production in September next year. So what changes will the project bring to Zhanjiang?

Wang: “Steel” is a common topic in Zhanjiang that can inspire everyone, because the “Iron Dream” we have diligently strived after for 30 years will come true. The iron and steel base in Zhanjiang carries Zhanjiang people's expectations for a better future. In the past, Zhanjiang was known as the “Port City” due to Zhanjiang Port, a major port in South China. As the iron and steel base in Zhanjiang is completed and put into operation, a world-class “Steel City” will come into being. From then on, Zhanjiang will feature two calling cards as Port City and Steel City, showing that a sector or an industry can change a city profoundly and brand a city forever. The biggest change in Zhanjiang is that the iron and steel industry has made Zhanjiang people more confident about their future, which reflects their yearning for modern industry, their unremitting pursuit for the city’s prosperity, and their joint efforts to protect the environment and promote the sustainable development of Zhanjiang. There was no industrialization in its true sense in Zhanjiang until Baosteel settled down here. Zhanjiang steel is a symbol of the new industrialization of this city.

Now many people pay close attention to Zhanjiang, worrying that projects such as iron and steel projects will bring disastrous consequences to its ecological environment. But from my own experience and from the development of Zhanjiang steel, the impact of this project on Zhanjiang’s environment is quite limited. Steel mills basically discharged waste freely in the past when we were unable to control emissions and the concept of green development wasn’t advocated yet. Now our development philosophy has changed. Before the construction of steel mills, we can synchronously design, construct and put into operation with environmental protection facilities the most stringent regulatory measures to ensure ordered emissions, clean production, and that industrial waste can be converted into useful products to the maximum degree. Thus secondary exploitation can be realized and circular economy can be developed vigorously. As a large State-owned enterprise with a high sense of social responsibility and a Global 500 enterprise, Baosteel publishes reports on environment and social responsibility every year to shoulder the responsibility to protect the environment and accept the supervision of society. After the completion and operation next September, green steel will become a reality. The new Baosteel will bring us a new surprise and an accurate answer.

As the Zhanjiang steel project is completed and put into operation, Zhanjiang will also continuously implement the “Double Blue” strategy, namely the “blue rise” and the “blue sky and clean water”, to achieve a win-win situation of development and environmental protection. In order to implement the “Double Blue” strategy, we will strive to develop Zhanjiang into a city of circular economy, beautiful environment and safety, preserving the “blue sea and blue sky” in Zhanjiang and ensuring that Zhanjiang speeds up its economic and social development while maintaining the “Zhanjiang blue”.