Zhoushan leads the way for an ocean economy
By Yang Jian and Ding Yining |
July 8, 2011, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA'S State Council has approved a plan to set up a Zhoushan Archipelago New Area in eastern Zhejiang Province, the country's fourth such district, to create a role model for oceanic economic development.
The zone is also expected to become a fresh growth driver for the entire Yangtze River Delta region and bolster Shanghai's goal of becoming an international shipping hub by 2020.
"It is the first time for China to establish a state-level new district featuring the ocean economy," Fan Hengshan, director of the National Development and Reform Commission's regional economy division, said at a media briefing yesterday.
The Zhoushan Archipelago joins Shanghai's Pudong New Area, Tianjin's Binhai New Area and Chongqing's Liangjiang New Area as state-level districts.
The new district covers all of Zhoushan city, with 1,440 square kilometers of land and 20,800 square kilometers of sea. It is to be built into a pioneering area for the oceanic economy, Zhejiang provincial Governor Lu Zushan said.
Pilot region
Lu said the new area would become a trade center for the storage, transport and processing of bulk commodities, a modern ocean industrial base, and a pilot region for integrating land and sea resources.
It will also be an important gateway on the eastern seaboard, and a comprehensive demonstration zone for island protection and development, he added.
The new area will become "one of the two wings" for the Shanghai international shipping center to boost its competitiveness, Lu said. The other wing will be the Nantong Port in Jiangsu Province.
The new area will mainly ship bulk commodities to support the operation of the Shanghai port that focuses on the shipping of containers, Lu added.
"Zhoushan plays a key role in the development of Shanghai as well as the whole Yangtze River Delta region in the shipping sector as it has very rich port resources," Zhen Hong, secretary general of the Shanghai International Shipping Institute, said yesterday.
Key element
"The State Council's guideline is a very important strategy for Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta region as Zhoushan serves as a key element in Zhejiang Province's economic strategy," he said.
The State Council mapped out guidelines at the end of March 2009 for Shanghai to become a major international financial center and shipping hub by 2020.
Shanghai has long been an important shipping hub and the busiest dry bulk port in the world for the past three years. Last year, it overtook Singapore to become the world's largest container port.
Zhoushan, the country's only prefecture-level administrative city based on islands, fosters an oceanic economic system mainly supported by port logistics, coastal industries, marine tourism and fisheries.
Comprising 1,390 islands, it has approximately 280 kilometers of deep-water coastline, taking up 18.4 percent of the country's total.
Zhoushan's gross domestic product increased 11.1 percent year on year in 2010 to 63.3 billion yuan (US$9.8 billion).
The zone is also expected to become a fresh growth driver for the entire Yangtze River Delta region and bolster Shanghai's goal of becoming an international shipping hub by 2020.
"It is the first time for China to establish a state-level new district featuring the ocean economy," Fan Hengshan, director of the National Development and Reform Commission's regional economy division, said at a media briefing yesterday.
The Zhoushan Archipelago joins Shanghai's Pudong New Area, Tianjin's Binhai New Area and Chongqing's Liangjiang New Area as state-level districts.
The new district covers all of Zhoushan city, with 1,440 square kilometers of land and 20,800 square kilometers of sea. It is to be built into a pioneering area for the oceanic economy, Zhejiang provincial Governor Lu Zushan said.
Pilot region
Lu said the new area would become a trade center for the storage, transport and processing of bulk commodities, a modern ocean industrial base, and a pilot region for integrating land and sea resources.
It will also be an important gateway on the eastern seaboard, and a comprehensive demonstration zone for island protection and development, he added.
The new area will become "one of the two wings" for the Shanghai international shipping center to boost its competitiveness, Lu said. The other wing will be the Nantong Port in Jiangsu Province.
The new area will mainly ship bulk commodities to support the operation of the Shanghai port that focuses on the shipping of containers, Lu added.
"Zhoushan plays a key role in the development of Shanghai as well as the whole Yangtze River Delta region in the shipping sector as it has very rich port resources," Zhen Hong, secretary general of the Shanghai International Shipping Institute, said yesterday.
Key element
"The State Council's guideline is a very important strategy for Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta region as Zhoushan serves as a key element in Zhejiang Province's economic strategy," he said.
The State Council mapped out guidelines at the end of March 2009 for Shanghai to become a major international financial center and shipping hub by 2020.
Shanghai has long been an important shipping hub and the busiest dry bulk port in the world for the past three years. Last year, it overtook Singapore to become the world's largest container port.
Zhoushan, the country's only prefecture-level administrative city based on islands, fosters an oceanic economic system mainly supported by port logistics, coastal industries, marine tourism and fisheries.
Comprising 1,390 islands, it has approximately 280 kilometers of deep-water coastline, taking up 18.4 percent of the country's total.
Zhoushan's gross domestic product increased 11.1 percent year on year in 2010 to 63.3 billion yuan (US$9.8 billion).
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