Qingdao's West Coast New Area will boost maritime innovation

Entrepreneurs in the coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong province, are contemplating a boost to their businesses after the launch of China's newest development zone, the Qingdao West Coast New Area. The zone will act as a base for offshore exploration and will promote innovation in China's maritime sector.

"We have signed agreements with a company in Hong Kong to sell three of our mobile offshore accommodation platforms at a price of around 100 million yuan ($16 million) each," Zhu Shengkai, deputy general manager of Qingdao Haixi Heavy-Duty Machinery, says at a shipyard on the western shore of the city.

"We have invested tens of millions of yuan in the research and development of maritime equipment, and manufactured mobile offshore accommodation platforms for the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia," he says. "Actually, all of our offshore platforms were bought by people and companies overseas."

Zhu spoke during a visit to a half-constructed accommodation platform that is being built for a Panamanian buyer. Workers were busy installing and testing equipment on the 50-meter-tall structure.

Container terminals in the Qingdao West Coast New Area.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"The size and height of this kind of platform is tailored to the clients' requirements. This one can move at 11 kilometers an hour on the ocean. It can hold a helicopter and enough supplies to maintain operations and workers for up to three months away from land," Zhu says.

The dock was dominated by heavy-duty gantry cranes and other maritime equipment, all lined up in rows prior to being shipped to buyers.

"I am fully confident about my company's future because the establishment of the New Area indicates the central government's determination to promote the maritime industries," Zhu says.

China Shipbuilding Industry Corp, one of the nation's biggest shipbuilders and the parent of Haixi, has moved some of its research institutions and manufacturing facilities to the New Area, signaling that the shipbuilding conglomerate is eager to take advantage of the development of the project, according to Feng Cheng, assistant director of the corporation's 712 Institute, which developed China's first marine electric propulsion technology.