Unique strength in Weifang's most competitive, fastest developing industry
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China Daily, November 7, 2011
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| Weichai Power Co Ltd's factory in Weifang. |
After a marine economic zone on the Shandong Peninsula became a part of China's overall development strategy in January, the city of Weifang, on the peninsula's north coast, began developing a marine economic and technological development zone of its own.
In the first nine months of this year, the zone had revenues of more than 1.9 billion yuan ($303.8 million), a year-on-year increase of 26.3 percent.
"The province's marine economic development strategy has brought unprecedented opportunities and we'll use our unique strengths to make the marine industry one of our most competitive, fastest-developing industries," said Su Like, head of the Weifang marine economic zone.
The Weihai zone was approved by China's State Council, in April 2010, as one of three new marine zones under a Shandong Peninsula Marine Economic Zone development plan.
The 600-square-kilometer zone is expected to have a seaside town, an advanced manufacturing park, a port logistics park, a green energy park, and China's largest eco-friendly chemical industry base.
The new seaside town will have a marine science and technology area, a central business district, a coastal scenic spot, a holiday resort, and a residential area with good working and living conditions.
The local government has a target of 180 billion yuan in output value, contributing 30 percent of Weifang's total, by 2015.
To hit the target, the city plans to spend 100 billion yuan over a three-year period to make the zone a national marine science and technological development center, a model of emerging industries, and a force behind the peninsula's blue economic development.
There are 343 major projects under construction in Weifang, with 266.2 billion yuan in backing.
The zone's Sime Darby Port gets its backing from the Sime Darby Group, one of Malaysia's largest state-owned enterprises. It handled 1.28 million tons of cargo in the first three quarters of this year, and is expected to exceed 1.8 million tons by year's end.
The zone is now looking for qualified personnel in marine scientific development, advanced equipment manufacturing, new materials, petrochemicals, financial services, port logistics, marine tourism, marine mining, new energy and energy-saving technologies.
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