Jiaozhou rides economic high on the back of special industrial zones

The city of Jiaozhou in East China's Shandong province is riding an economic high on the back of its five functional development parks and making the most of new economic drivers.

"Jiaozhou has made great economic achievements in recent years, and the five development parks are the crucial backbones for the economy," said Sun Yonghong, Party chief of Jiaozhou. 

Sanlihe Park, covering an area of 31.8 hectares, is a popular tourist attraction in Jiaozhou, East China's Shandong province. Wang Zhaomo / For China Daily    

Performers from a local arts inheritance and protection center stage yangko, a form of Chinese folk dance that is popular in Jiaozhou. Wang Binghui / For China Daily 

The five development parks are the Qingdao Jiaozhou Bay International Logistics Park, the Jiaozhou Economic and Technological Development Zone, the Qingdao Jiaodong Airport Economic Demonstration Zone, the Qingdao Eurasian Economic and Trade Cooperation Industrial Park, and the Dagu River Ecotourism Resort.

Well connected

The Qingdao Jiaozhou Bay International Logistics Park, established in January 2003, covers an area of 6.87 square kilometers and is among the first batch of State-level logistics parks.

It takes half an hour to drive to Qingdao Liuting International Airport and the Qingdao Qianwan Port from the logistics park.

The Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport is just 7 kilometers away from the park.

Three highways and four railways run around the Qingdao Jiaozhou Bay International Logistics Park.

Meanwhile, the Qingdao center for CRIntermodal rail container logistics in the logistics park is developing five international train routes to connect Russia, Mongolia, Japan, South Korea, Europe, and the ASEAN countries.

With its all-round logistics network, the Qingdao Jiaozhou Bay International Logistics Park has already forged itself into the only multimodal transportation center that integrates marine, railway and highway transportation among the countries along the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, according to local officials.

In addition, the park is equipped with professional support service centers, such as a customs supervision center, a bonded logistics center, a commodity trading center and a comprehensive service center.

The customs supervision center is taking the lead in China in establishing a customs information sharing platform, which largely simplifies customs clearance procedures.

The clearance time for commodities imported from the countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative has been shortened by 13 hours.

As for exported commodities, it only takes one working day to complete customs clearance.

Smart and high-tech

The Jiaozhou Economic and Technological Development Zone is innovating in smart manufacturing, smart cold chains, smart homes, biomedicines, supply chain logistics, e-commerce and science and technology.

In the past five years, the development zone has introduced 132 companies, including China International Marine Containers Group, Qingdao TGOOD Electronic Co and e-commerce giant JD.

The investment for the zone's 132 projects has totaled 151 billion yuan ($23.52 billion).

The Jiaozhou Economic and Technological Development Zone has made progress in terms of city and industry integration.

In the past few years, an array of supporting facilities have settled in the development zone.

They are Qingdao University Jiaozhou Campus, the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, the Huahong Bay International Tourism Resort, the Liqun Group commercial complex, ecological wetland parks and apartments for academicians and experts.

Natural beauty

The Dagu River Ecotourism Resort, another functional development park helping boost Jiaozhou's economy, covers an area of 31.8 sq km and enjoys a temperate climate. Without freezing winters or blistering summers, the resort is a holiday paradise.

After a decade of development, the resort has turned over a new leaf, evolving into a provincial-level ecotourism resort, national water park, national wetland park and a national 4A scenic area.

The resort attracted 1.3 million tourists last year.

Taking to the skies

The Qingdao Jiaodong Airport Economic Demonstration Zone will forge itself into a modern, smart and ecologically-friendly area.

Taking full advantage of the new airport, the airport economic zone will focus on developing high-end aviation-related industries and strengthening trade with the countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Crossing continents

The Qingdao Eurasian Economic and Trade Cooperation Industrial Park is paying a lot of attention to cross-border trade and cooperation.

Looking ahead, the industrial park is proactively applying to establish the Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Zone of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, aiming to enhance cooperation with SCO countries, according to Zhu Nini, chief of the administrative approval section of the Jiaozhou Bureau of Commerce.

To forge new economic drivers, Jiaozhou is devoting itself to introducing emerging, high-end industries and enhancing science and technological innovation, according to an official at the publicity department of Jiaozhou.

This comes as the city also makes efforts to attract high-quality investment, promoting the gathering of modern logistics, Internet Plus, high-end equipment manufacturing and aviation-related industries.

Jiaozhou introduced 267 major projects last year, valued at 179.5 billion yuan in total.

zhangdandan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 06/09/2018 page8)