Tianjin's coastal district taps into innovation power

The Binhai New Area, a coastal district in North China's Tianjin, is spearheading efforts to enhance coordinated development across Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province by capitalizing on its prowess in technological innovation, said Shan Zefeng, governor of the district and a deputy to the National People's Congress.

Shan emphasized that Binhai aspires to emerge as a key driver of independent innovation and a central hub for original innovation, particularly in fields such as life sciences, smart technologies and low-carbon solutions.

"Efforts will be intensified to advance crucial core technologies and overcome various technological bottlenecks in the industrial chain," he said.

Plans are underway to establish mechanisms for translating scientific and technological breakthroughs into tangible products and foster more startup platforms for high-tech companies that can attract top talent to Binhai, Shan said.

For example, the district will release an upgraded version of the "Haihe Elite Project", which was launched by the Tianjin municipal government in 2018 and lowered the threshold for securing hukou, or household registration, for university graduates and leading technology personnel.

Expressing optimism about recent breakthroughs in coordinated development, Shan said that notable efforts include the establishment of a new State-owned enterprise, the China Resources Recycling Group, last year to promote technological upgrades in recycling and reusing resources.

In January, the group launched a project for the safe recycling and disposal of mobile phones in Tianjin and Shantou, Guangdong province. The project, the first of its kind in the country, features state-of-the-art technologies.

Shan said the Sinopec Research Institute of Petroleum Processing has established its presence in Binhai, along with multiple technological experimental zones, showcasing a collaborative industrial model involving research and development in Beijing and experimentation in Binhai.

He said a new generation of technological application clusters in Binhai have been designated as State-level industrial clusters.

"The area has made strides in promoting regional coordinated growth, including the removal of various barriers and the adoption of mutual recognition of qualifications for projects among Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei," he said.

According to the governor, the introduction of a one-stop window for more than 1,100 registration services, along with the availability of online self-service in most cases, has considerably streamlined things.

To alleviate the industrial burden on Beijing's technological hub Zhongguancun, the Binhai-Zhongguancun Science Park, located 140 kilometers away, has welcomed a surge of enterprises — from 1,443 in 2019 to 5,800 this year. Among these are 606 national-level high-tech and small and medium-sized high-tech companies.

In addition, the Tianjin Port in Binhai is maintaining trade relations with more than 500 ports in about 180 countries and regions worldwide, Shan said.

The port has established unique direct shipping routes connecting China with the East Coast of the United States and Central America, along with a dedicated route for cherries from Chile. The number of container shipping routes has risen to 147, with 68 routes linking ports in countries and regions participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.

The Tianjin Port has evolved into a critical hub facilitating connectivity between land and sea and fostering mutual benefits for both the East and the West, Shan said. "We will harness the port's capabilities to propel local technologies and industries forward," he added.

Since the inaugural run of an express train linking the Tianjin Port with Xingtai in Hebei in May, other cities in Hebei, such as Shijiazhuang and Baoding, have seen the start of regular train services to the port. This has led to the gradual enhancement of the regional logistics network, according to the governor.

Data from the Binhai Statistics Bureau shows that in 2024, the district's GDP increased 5.5 percent year-on-year, surpassing the national average, while also exceeding the city average by 0.4 percentage point.