wanjiang city belt in the making

1、<p>　　Wanjiang City Belt in the Making</p><p>　　IN February 2011 while on a busi-ness trip to Wuhu in Anhui Prov-ince,I took a taxi to visit my auntthere.I asked the driver if he hadnoticed any change t

2、o the city since thestart of the Wanjiang City Belt project."Yes,of course," he answered eagerly."More outsiders are coming in,and fewerlocals are leaving." When I got out,headded,"The taxi fare

3、got cheaper too.Only six yuan now!" </p><p>　　When I told my 8o-year-old auntwhat the driver had said,she insisted onshowing me around the outside of whereshe lived,pointing out a park on one sideof her

4、 house,another on the other side,and a school and a hospital in front.Lifewas very convenient,she assured me,and next year the inter-city railway fromNanjing in Jiangsu to Anqing in Anhuiwould go into operation."It

5、will takeonly half an hour from here to Nanjing,"she beamed,clearly relishing the idea ofmeeting with her Nanjing relatives.Wanji</p><p>　　Wuhu is a city in Anhui and a memberof Wanjiang City Belt. <

6、/p><p>　　Wanjiang is not an official place name.You won't find it on any map.In ancienttimes Anhui had a Wan Mountain,aWan River,and a Wan State; these daysWan is the simplified name of Anhui,and locals ref

7、er to the 4oo-km section ofthe Yangtze River within the province asthe Wanjiang,or Wan River.WanjiangCity Belt comprises nine cities along itsbanks: Hefei,Ma'anshan,Chaohu,Wuhu,Tongling,Chizhou,Chuzhou,Xuanchengand A

8、nqing. </p><p>　　In January 2010 the central govern-ment decided to establish Wanjiang CityBelt as an industry transfer demonstra-tion project.It is part of the nationaleconomic and industrial restructuringe

9、ndeavor. </p><p>　　In the 198os Deng Xiaoping proposeda two-step development strategy: coastalareas should take the lead in opening tothe outside world and get rich ahead ofinterior areas; having built up co

10、nsider-able strength,they should then help thehinterland and serve as engines for itseconomic development. </p><p>　　Following the setting up of specialeconomic zones in 1979,China went onto open 14 coastal

11、cities in 1984 and theYangtze,Pearl and Minnan deltas in1985 to foreign investors.In 1988 theState Council made Hainan Island an-other special economic zone and in 1990decided to develop Shanghai's Pudong.As a result

12、,eastern China prospered.Over the following decade,the centralgovernment launched the Western De-velopment Drive,Northeast Old IndustryRejuvenation and Central China Resur-rection campaigns to b</p><p>　　Ove

13、r the past three decades,produc-tion costs have kept rising in the easternareas,whittling away the developmentadvantages of their traditional industries.The global financial crisis has exacerbatedthe situation,forcing th

14、e eastern areasto accelerate economic restrneturing andindustry transfer.In contrast,the westernand central areas have seen a decade ofsignificant infrastructure improvement, and their production costs are clearlylower

15、than in eastern China.There existsvast space and potentia</p><p>　　Why did the central government pickAnhui as its first pilot? And what is sospecial about Wanjiang City Belt? </p><p>　　To answe

16、r these questions,we shouldtake a look at Anhui's geography andhistory. </p><p>　　When Deng Xiaoping decided todevelop Shanghai's Pudong in 199o,he pointed out that Shanghai shouldbe used as a base f

17、or the further devel-opment of the Yangtze Delta,for theriver's entire middle and lower reaches.In 1992 all the cities along the river,in-eluding Wuhu,were open to the outsideworld.Anhui Province took the oppor-tunit

18、y to strengthen its economic coop-eration with the Yangtze Delta with aview to propelling the Wanjiang riverinedevelopment. </p><p>　　So the Wanjiang region can be calleda frontrunner among the western andce

19、ntral areas in settling industriestransferred from the littoral.As a mat-ter of fact,it is a major economic areaof Central China and an immediate andconvenient choice for industries from theYangtze Delta cities that lie

20、downstream.Anhui is the most easterly inland prov-ince; it borders the coastal provinces ofJiangsu and Zhejiang and is easily acces-sible by road,rail,water and air.Its pro-duction costs are low and infrastr</p>&

21、lt;p>　　Historically,Anhui was one of the ear-ly provinces to embark on foreign tradewhen Wuhu City was opened as a treatyport in 1876.About lOO years later,thepioneering of the household contract re-sponsibility syste

22、m by Xiaogang Villageset in motion China's agricultural reform,ushering in the new era of reform andopening-up.Anhui people are knownfor their business acumen and Anhuimerchants' clout once extended acrossChina a

23、nd beyond.Posterboys for today'sAnhui businesses are Nian Guangjiu andChery.Ni</p><p>　　Early in 2oo8 President Hu Jintaovisited and encouraged the province totake initiatives in accommodating indus-try

24、transfers and participate in regionaleconomic cooperation.His advice has greatly motivated the local leaders. </p><p>　　You Can't Come Hereand Pollute! </p><p>　　While researching this stor

25、y,Icouldn't help wonder how much choiceWanjiang City Belt actually had,andwhether ff could stipulate environmentalpreconditions for accepting transferredindustries and projects. </p><p>　　Chen Qiang,secr

26、etary of the CPCChaohu Municipal Committee,gave mean answer.He emphasized that the citiesof the demonstration area must reflecttheir local characteristics and advantagesand must aim at developing new indus-tries of strat

27、egic importance; so indus-trial transfers would involve necessaryindustrial transformation and upgrading.He said Chaohu would mainly take in sixindustries: new chemicals,equipmentmanufacturing,high and new technology,mod

28、ern logistics,modern agriculture,andmodern se</p><p>　　The Anhui Huayi Chemical Co.,Ltd.isa standout example of a transfer projectin Chaohu.A Shanghai-Anhui coopera-tive project,at a forecast investmentof RM

29、B 35 billion,the company willproduce coal-based chemicals from anenvironmentally friendly refinery pro-cess.The first-stage construction willcomplete in November,after which thecompany can realize an annual sales in-come

30、 of RMB 4.5 billion and contributea profit/tax of RMB 60o million.Whenthe entire project completes in 2014,itshould achieve annu</p><p>　　According to General Manager HuGuowei,Huayi owns several patentedtech

31、nologies,and its environmental pro-tection system is also world-advanced.For example,it has a water-sprinkledisolation passageway to handle coal dust;both of its sulfur dioxide and hydrogensulfide discharges are lower th

32、an the165ppm standard,and its wastewater istreated by McWong Environmental andEnergy Group,which guarantees Class-One discharge.Huayi's solid waste isprocessed to make bricks. </p><p>　　Hu Guowei said th

33、ey had surveyedmore than half a dozen candidate sitesaround China before finally plumping forChaohu,whose deep-water wharfs,rail-ways and expressways offer convenienttransportation.Chaohu was also gener-ous with its land

34、 offer and is relativelyclose both to Huayi's raw material sup-pliers and to its customer base."And it'sclose to Shanghai,where I'm from,so I'mused to the climate," he added. </p><p&g

35、t;　　Chaohu saw a capital influx of RMB38.5 billion in 2010,driven by the dem-onstration base. </p><p>　　Independent Innovation </p><p>　　Wanjiang City Belt has brought abun-dant business opportu

36、nities to Wuhu.According to Wang Ziqiang,chief econo-mist of the municipal development andreform commission,currently 275 proj-ects with investment exceeding RMB 100million are being undertaken in the city;37 of these ar

37、e worth billions and 13 ofthem worth tens of billions RMB.Theirinvestors are mostly from the Yangtze Delta,the Pearl River Delta and othereastern coastal regions,and most of themare engaged in advanced manufacturingand

38、new</p><p>　　Riding atop the industrial wave isWuhu-based Chery Automobile,thepride of the city.Since construction ofits production facility started in March1997,the company has grown at light-ning speed.By

39、2010 two million earshad rolled off its production lines.Cheryattributes its high growth speed to its in-house research and development. </p><p>　　Chery has a 6,ooo-strong internationalR&D corps and inve

40、sts 10 percent of itsannual revenue into product R&D.It hasformed an independent innovation capa-bility for all its operations - private ears,business sedans,engines,gearboxes,andparts and components - and it holds i

41、n-dependent intellectual property rights forkey materials and core technologies. </p><p>　　Chery exports its ears to over 8ocountries and regions.It has established16 production bases in 15 countries andhas

42、formed working relations with manyworld-class businesses,such as AVL ofAustria and Johnson Controls,PPG andQuantum LLC of the U.S. </p><p>　　Cultural Industry </p><p>　　As I toured the Wanjiang

43、Belt cit-ies,most of the talk was of dry projectnames,industrial terms and statistics.InChizhou things were different.As soonas I entered the Anhui Zhong Cartoon of-flees,I was struck by the cartoon picturesdisplayed,by

44、the animations screened onits walls,and by what its animators werecreating on their computers. </p><p>　　According to General Manager DuPanfeng,Zhong Cartoon is working onLittle Monk of Mount Jiuhua,a 52-par

45、t series to be released this summer.The story is based on folk tales and religious legends from the areas around Jiuhua Mountain,a Buddhist place of pilgrim- age in Anhui. </p><p>　　Besides making animated c

46、artoons, the company is also engaged in the de- velopment and production of spin-offs, such as computer games,books,toys and garments. </p><p>　　In recent years,Chizhou has tried to develop its animation ind

47、ustry as the "most promising industrial growthpoint." The city government has workedout preferential policies in land use,taxation and financing to encourage ani-mation investors to Chizhou. </p><p&g

48、t;　　Zhong Cartoon also has properties inJiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.It cameto Anhui because Chizhou favors culturalenterprises and has set up an animationindustrial park,where the company be-lieves it has great prospe

49、cts for growth. </p><p>　　Chizhou has rich cultural resources,a good foundation for the developmentof cultural industries.It plans to con-centrate on animation production andinnovation,outsourced services an

50、d per-sonnel training in the coming few years.A Bigger Cake for Tongling 　　While researching this piece inTongling,the local TV station turned thetables and interviewed me! They askedme what aspect of Tongling impressed

51、me most and how the city should handleindustrial transfers. </p><p>　　To my mind,what is special aboutTongiing is its copper tradition and theyshould exploit and hone that competitiveadvantage to the minx. &

52、lt;/p><p>　　Tongiing is an ancient copper capitalof China,and copper metallurgy heregoes back 3,000 years.The city was bornof its copper industry and the two havegrown in tandem.Its aim is to become aworld copp

53、er capital. </p><p>　　"But our current industrial chain isshort,composed mainly of metallurgyand primary processing," confessed YaoYuzhou,secretary of the CPC TonglingMunicipal Committee.He express

54、edgreat interest in attracting transferringenterprises engaged in copper-relateddownstream processing and high and newtechnologies,in order to upgrade and ex-tend the city's copper industry chain. </p><p&g

55、t;　　Zhejiang Hailiang Group is such aninvestment in Tongling.The group ranks196th among China's top 500 businessesand seventh among China's top 500private companies.Its core operation iscopper processing. </p&

56、gt;<p>　　According to General Manager FuLinzhong,the first stage of Hailiang In-dustrial Park has an annual capacity of48,0o0 tons of precision-made coppertubes produced in an energy-efficient,environment-friendly

57、 process.The rawmaterials are locally sourced and thefinished products are also sold locally -to Gree and Midea,China's two largestproducers of air conditioners. </p><p>　　Mr.Yao describes Tongling's

58、 develop-ment goal as making a bigger "economiccake" for its citizens to share.He saysthat the local safety and happiness in-dices and sense of belonging have beenrising along with local economic devel-opment.H