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Spotlight on Tianjin

By WANG YU (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-04 06:41

Binhai International Convention & Exhibition Center will be the main venue of the Summer Davos Forum in September.

Suddenly, it's show time for Tianjin.

The coastal city, a one-hour drive from Beijing, is becoming a major player on China's development stage as a co-star for the Beijing Olympics and leading player for the Davos World Economic Forum in September.

Tianjin Mayor Huang Xingguo says the city's dress rehearsal for the Davos Forum is in full swing, and the municipality is going to present "three major presents" to the global forum.

"We are giving high priority to the forum," says Huang. "We have four major city leaders involved and 14 working groups have been set up for the details. More importantly, we are preparing three largesse presents for the forum," Huang adds.

The first "gift" is the Beijing-Tianjin Intra-City High-Speed Train, which began regular operation on August 1. It offers high-speed service between Beijing and Tianjin at 300 kilometers per hour for a 30-minute ride between the cities. Formerly the trip took from 2 hours to 90 minutes

Second, the Airbus A320 assembly line will come onstream during the Davos forum; it's a landmark for Sino-European economic and industrial co-operation.

And the planned Sino-Singapore Eco-City will kick off construction after the forum begins.

According to the original planning, Tianjin would start constructing the eco-city in July but rescheduled the big moment for the Davos forum.

"The three major presents are what Tianjin will offer to guests and friends coming to the Davos forum. We hope they will enjoy them," Huang adds.

Andre Schneider, managing director and chief operating officer of the World Economic Forum, says that the city's hard work is laying a solid foundation for a successful forum.

The confab is expected to attract more than 1,500 entrepreneurs, politicians and experts from more than 70 countries and regions.

"The forum will be a high-end platform to showcase the development achievements of Tianjin, as China's third growth engine," Huang says. "Also it will be a golden opportunity for Tianjin to learn from counterparts from the whole world."

In addition to seminars and breakfast meetings, tours promoting environmental protection, energy efficiency, harbor logistics, bio-science, hi-tech and the Binhai New Area development potential will be organized.

Right after Shenzhen and Shanghai Pudong, North China's Tianjin is becoming a hub city for international shipping and logistics, for modern manufacturing and for research and development.

In line with the national 11th Five-Year Plan, Tianjin has set a bold target to trim its per unit GDP energy consumption by more than 20 percent by 2010. Emphasis has been given to priority projects.

Traditionally, Tianjin has been known as a manufacturing hub lacking resource materials and a large consumer market. Limited energy resources now require Tianjin to follow an energy efficient, eco-friendly path, such as the Binhai new area eco-city being built in partnership with Singapore on a saline wasteland with technologies from the Lion City.

"We will turn the eco-city into a sustainable role model project," Mayor Huang says.

In the past five years, Tianjin witnessed its annual GDP jump by 15 percent year-on-year. Tianjin leads the country, in terms of per unit GDP water consumption, water recycling, and electricity usage.

The city has developed five cyclical industrial model projects, such as Dagang petrochemical industry project, TEDA eco-industry garden and Beijiang power generation plant.

Schneider says the eco-city will be a topic of high interest and discussion at the forum.

"We will have the Tianjin leaders discuss how to develop a city. The Sino-Singapore project will be highlighted for the sake of sustainable development," Schneider says.

(China Daily 08/04/2008 page10)