It’s looking good in Tongan

From January to July, Tongan district in Xiamen has seen foreign investment of $428 million, a rise of 211 percent compared with the previous year. This accounts for nearly half of the total foreign investment in Xiamen, and means Tongan has taken a lead in the six districts in the city.

On Sept 8, 20 projects costing $2.68 billion will start construction in Tongan.

Thanks to the dramatic increase in investment, a gorgeous industrial transformation is brewing in Tongan, which will transfer its economy from being labor-intensive to a new era propelled by science and technology.

Tongan is leading the development of e-commerce in Xiamen. After the building of the Binhai (Coast) New City, Tongan will become a shiny pearl of the Western Taiwan Straits Economic Zone.

In September, a vegetable and fruit wholesale market will start construction in Hongtang Logistics Park, an upgraded version of the South Fujian Wholesale Center of Agricultural Products.

The wholesale center that was established in April 1993 and accounts for over 80 percent of the total supply to Xiamen. In 2011, the trading volume reached 1.12 million tons and transactions were at the level of 3 billion yuan.

Its upgraded version, the South Fujian Agricultural Products Logistics Center, which occupies 31 hectares of land, at a cost of 700 million yuan, will become an integrated modern agricultural products logistic center with an annual trading volume of 2.5 million tons. The firststage project, that has been listed as a major project at the provincial and municipal level, will begin construction in September, and put into operation by 2014.

The center will meet the demands of the industry with intensive management, networked information, branding strategy and multifunctionality for trading, processing, storing and distribution of vegetables, fruits, meat, eggs, local foods and seafood.

It will meet the needs of consumers in a surrounding area of 600 to 800 sq km, becoming the flagship center of the country.

It is just one case of the upgraded industries in Tongan. Others initiatives, including Xiamen Construction Material Park, Xindi Logistics, Qingdao Haier and Amazon, and various modern logistics companies have chosen Tongan too, as the district upgrades its “Three Logistic Bases” to e-commerce platforms.

The logistics industry of Tongan is embracing progress. Xiamen Construction Park has attracted logistics giants like Beijing Jimei Furnishings, and Jointown Pharmaceutical Group, forming a collection of furniture, medicine, construction material and fruit and vegetable companies. Another e-commerce company — Xiamen e-commerce company, Logistics Park, is planning to receive investment from the largest listing investment management company in the United States, to build a developed e-commerce logistics center in the Western Taiwan Straits Economic Zone.

Qingdao Haier and Amazon are also aiming to build an e-commerce platform in Tongan. The branch company of Amazon in Xiamen has began to operate its two warehouses, which generates an annual tax of more than 50 million yuan.

As a part of “Innovative Xiamen”, the e-commerce platform will inject energy into the development of the city by attracting more companies to invest.

On Sept 8, No 30 Research Institute of China Electronic Technology Group, a leader in domestic information safety and radio communication, founded in 1965, will move to Xiamen Science and Technology Innovation Park, in Tongan district.

Four State-owned enterprises have signed contracts to be based in the park, which occupies 4.9 square kilometers and aims to attract advanced technology companies and research institutes.

Xiamen Yaxon Networks Co Ltd, a branch of the No 30 Research Institute of China Electronic Technology Group, is planning to invest 800 million yuan to establish a research and production base for a vehicle network, radio-frequency identification, navigation applications and other electronic vehicle products, expecting to have an annual production capacity of 1 million “sets” to the value of 2.19 billion yuan, generating tax of 253.6 million yuan.

In addition, Luoyang Ship Material Research Institute, under China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, Energy Saving and Environment Protection Lab, under China Academy of Engineering Physics, and a new Haixia Modern Agriculture Research Institute, will settle in the park.

In order to promote innovation and research, Tongan will collaborate with Xiamen Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone to establish a hitech base in northeast Tongan that occupies a site of 985.55 hectares. The aim is to develop an integrated zone for new-generation information, biomedicine and new medicine industries, with residential and service functions.

The traditional industries of Tongan are catching the wave of upgrading and transformation.

On Sept 8, Tongan will kick off construction of a starred hotel and affiliated service projects around the coast of Tongan Bay, making full use of its 6-km beach to build “sapphire” Seaside Resorts. In the future, 13 luxury resort hotels in various styles will open across the “Golden Coast” of Tongan.

In the blueprint, the hotel cluster will have a Spanish-style water park with a floating viewing platform, Banyan Bar Street and Banyan Stone Square, a yacht club, a wetland spa and other commercial areas, all managed by top hotel management companies.

An investment of 300 million yuan in Xikeputou Tourism Town that has the theme of south Fujian culture, will begin construction on Sept 8. The first projects will include a commercial street, a folk culture museum, hotels and shops, on a 93,000 square meters site.

The ongoing construction of the 5-billion-yuan Xiamen Huaqiang Culture Industry Base is another key tourism project of Tongan. Adjacent to the East Coast Highway and Shenhai Expressway, the biggest cultural investment project in Xiamen will open during the Spring Festival of 2013.

With a projected target of 6 million tourists, the project includes stunt movie and creative animation bases and will advance the economical development of Tongan’s coastal areas.

In the future, the coastal projects in Tongan Bay, along with the beautiful natural scenery, will provide high-end tourism resources to “view Xiamen and Jinmen on the sea” by connecting with other popular sites like Gulangyu Island, Wuyuan Bay, International Tanker Berth and Dadeng and Xiaodeng Islands in Xiamen.

The New Binhai City of Tongan will be the “Victorian Bay” of Fujian province and a shiny pearl on the Western Taiwan Straits Tourism Sphere.

Architectural renderings of the South Fujian Agricultural Products Logistics Center in Tongan district.