Yu Rumin, chairman of Tianjin Port Group, is looking forward to the Summer Davos Forum from Sep 11 to 13, his sixth consecutive year at the event. He said it again offers a golden opportunity to attract investment and broaden his vision through exchanges with guests from around the world.
One of the first member companies of the Summer Davos Forum, Tianjin Port Group was admitted to the World Economic Forum’s Community of Global Growth Companies in 2007, to be qualified to par- ticipate in the World Eco- nomic Forum Annual Meeting — or Winter Davos — in 2009.
Yu said the port industry is the most important showcase of the develop- ment for a coastal city. His view is shared by Liu Binglian, professor with Nankai University School of Economics in Tianjin. “The growth of ports will promote local economic development, and vice-versa, as large-scale industries demand huge cargo handling capac- ity,” Liu explained. In 2011, the capacity at Tianjin Port exceeded 450 million tons, a 9 percent increase from 2010, ranking it fourth among all ports in the world.
The annual throughput of coal and coal products at the port now exceeds 100 million tons. The volume of cargo including steel, timber, automobiles and nonferrous minerals has also increased significantly.
In addition to bulk cargo, the port handled 11.5 million containers last year, 14 percent more than the previous year. The growth rate was also 3.3 percentage points higher than the average of all seaports in the country.
Expanding network “To increase throughput at the port, we are making efforts to explore hinterland markets and establish a logistics network,” Yu said. Tianjin Port serves a vast inland areas including all of North China, some regions in West China, and even Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Mongolia, according to Du Qidong, deputy secretary-general of China Ports & Harbors Association. As early as 1989, Tianjin Port began to provide searail intermodal transportation services.
And in 1995, it became the first port in China to offer container train services. In 2011, about 70 percent of its throughput and more than 50 percent of the cargo value originated in hinterland regions. Tianjin Port Group also has 21 inland dry ports that enable trans- shipment to 14 provinces and regions in China.
Despite its status as the world’s fourth-largest port, its operator con- tinues to look for new potential. “The Tianjin Port Group is diver- sifying its businesses to cover such areas as cargo transport, international logistics, real estate and other services,” the group’s chairman Yu said. “We will also add investment in promising projects such as in new energies,” said Yu, citing a liquefied natural gas terminal project in coop- eration with China National Offshore Oil Corp as an example. “
The project will full y m e e t the future demand of the city and its neighboring regions,” said Yu. Free trade zone Yu said a significant initiative of the Tianjin Port Group is the country’s largest free trade port — the Dongjiang Free Trade Port Zone.
“It is not only a tax-free bonded area as we see elsewhere, but is developing toward a multifunctional free trade zone,” said Yu. He said the Dongjiang free trade port has “the largest area, the best con- ditions, the most preferential policies, the most efficient management, the most convenient customs clearance and the freest business environment” in China. Approved by the State Council last year, the free trade port is part of Tianjin’s strategy to become an international shipping hub by offering a number of pilot policies for ship reg- istration, taxation, financing and payment settlement.
From May 2011 to April this year, 377 enterprises with a combined capital of 7.4 billion yuan ($1.16 billion) were registered in the free trade port area, among them 81 companies were engaged in shipping logistics, 66 in foreign trade and 155 in leasing services.
By June, more than 900 enterprises had signed on for operations in Dongjiang, including 819 funded by domestic investors and 102 by foreign businesses. Their cumulative registered capital totaled 64.4 billion yuan. Leasing services is the emerging business, with 248 companies that lease equipment including ships and airplanes. The second phase of the free trade port will cover about 42 square kilometers and augment operations to complete a comprehensive development zone for free trade, shipping services, tourism, recreation and living, said Yu.
Twin port program Sixty-year-old Tianjin Port is by far the largest seaport in Tianjin, but it is not the only one. The emerging Nangang — or South Port — is an important part of a twin-port program formulated by the city government in 2009. “The develop- ment of two ports can further enhance Tianjin’s leading position in the Bohai rim region,” said Qin Haiying, researcher at the Binhai Devel- opment Institute of Nankai University. With trial operations beginning on Sept 31 last year, by 2015 the Nan- gang Industrail Zone will be capable of accommodating ships weighing 100,000 tons, have 30 million tons in throughput capacity and total rev- enues of 150 billion yuan, said He Shushan, chairman of the Admin- istrative Commission of the Tianjin Economic-Technological Develop- ment Area (Nangang).
“Nangang is not just a new-born harbor, but an important extension of Tianjin Port,” said Professor Liu Binglian of Nankai University. He said Tianjin Port will focus on container services while its bulk cargo transportation business will be gradu- ally shifted to Nangang.
He predicted that in 2020, about 100 to 150 million tons of bulk cargo will be migrate from Tianjin Port to Nan- gang, which is then expected to handle 200 million tons in total. In the southeast of Tianjin, the Nan- gang Industrial Zone is managed and developed by the Tianjin Economic -Technological Development Area.
It has a planned area of 200 sq km — nearly one-tenth the size of Tianjin Binhai New Area — with 32.1 km of coastline. Focused on petrochemicals and bulk cargo, it is projected to be the largest economic zone in the Binhai New Area. Infrastructure construction is now under way in the zone.
In its first phase it will offer 65 sq km of land with power, water and natural gas supplies as well of sewage treatment plants. Two harbors capa- ble of berthing ves- sels of 5,000 tons have already been built and three bulk chemical harbors with capacity of 50,000 tons can be operational next year.
A new railway connecting Nangang with the city’s major rail transport network is planned to be operational in 2014. The national coastal highway in Tianjin is already open to traffic. Petrochemical hub The Nangang Industrial Zone is already the major petrochemical hub in Tianjin, an industry expected to be further strengthened to include ocean chemicals and fine chemicals. Plans call for the sector to be upgraded to meet the latest standards in energy conservation and environmental friendliness.
Zhang Dongsheng, vice-chairman of the Administrative Commission of Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area (Nangang), said about 800 billion yuan is expected to be invested in oil refining and ethylene production in the next 15 years. Businesses from home and abroad have already invested about 30 billion yuan to build large production facilities. Multinationals including Dow Chemical, Royal Dutch Shell and Rosneft, as well as domestic producers Sinopec, PetroChina and ChemChina, all have projects in the zone, with their combined planned investment set to surpass 250 billion yuan.
By 2015, the zone is expected to have an oil refining capacity of 13 million tons, according to its development plan. The zone’s total revenues are projected to reach 150 billion yuan in 2015, with the figure projected to surpass 1 trillion yuan at build out, making it a petrochemical and logistics hub wi