Former farm a rising business park
A farm turned economic zone is aiming to become a new powerhouse in the city of Zhanjiang, Guangdong province.
Originally an agricultural operation established decades ago to provide work for returning overseas Chinese, the 138-square-kilometer Fenyong Economic Zone was unveiled last year.
Despite a short history, it is forging ahead rapidly. In the first half of 2013, the zone’s GDP hit 32.32 million yuan ($5.28 million), an 11 percent increase year-on-year, and fixed-asset investment reached 112 million yuan, a 162 percent surge from the same period last year.
To ensure the zone has a good start, it invited Singapore’s principal developer Jurong Town Corp to work out the development master plan, said officials at its administrative committee.
Planned as a modern technological new town, the zone focuses on biopharmaceuticals, electronics, appliances, advanced equipment, comprehensive manufacturing, and modern logistics.
As a provincial high-tech park, it enjoys an array of favorable policies and financial support from both provincial authorities and the Zhanjiang city government.
Officials at the administrative committee said such government support will accelerate the pace of the zone’s development.
The committee is also streamlining administrative procedures to better serve companies in the zone.
A half-an-hour drive from downtown Zhanjiang, the zone is less than 35 kilometers from the city’s airport, railway station and port. The Zhanjiang-Xuwen expressway, the Zhanjiang-Haian railway and No 207 State Highway go through the zone.
It will have closer links with the Pearl River Delta as work is advanced of a high-speed railway in western Guangdong as well as a highway between Donghai Island and Leizhou in Zhanjiang.
The island will soon become home to a Sino-Kuwaiti oil refinery and one of Baosteel’s iron and steel facilities. The combined investment required in the two is at least 120 billion yuan.
Just 20 kilometers from the island, the zone is an ideal place for companies in supporting oil and steel industries, said the zone’s administrative committee.
The committee said infrastructure for a new 360-hectare industrial park is now complete, while the entire zone’s infrastructure will be finished by 2017.
To date, the zone has attracted 12 projects requiring a combined investment of 2.55 billion yuan, while another 20 are under negotiation.
It added that construction has started on eight projects, mostly in pharmaceuticals, food and energy.
In addition to such priority industries, the zone is seeking investment in infrastructure, including sewage treatment and residential facilities. It plans to house 100,000 permanent residents and a migrant population of 200,000 by 2020.
It is also calling for investment in standard factory buildings, logistics, hotels, tourism and real estate.
The zone has also been selected as a pilot location in the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area as many of its current residents are overseas Chinese who returned from Southeast Asia.