Binhai New Area strives for development excellence, officials say

Binhai New Area in Tianjin is pushing hard to create a better business environment for private companies to achieve high-quality development, local officials said.

Occupying a core position on the Bohai Economic Rim, the area boasts abundant natural resources and is known as a key economic growth springboard in China - enjoying advantages in such sectors as advanced manufacturing and international logistics.

The area is also playing a lead role in Tianjin's economic progress and has entered a new phase of high-quality development, said Zhang Yuzhuo, Party chief of the area.

"The area is committed to helping private companies solve their difficulties and promote their development to a higher level with greater effort," Zhang said.

He called on support for private companies through preferential policies and for accelerating reform of approval systems.

Officials said that in the current year, the area is continuing to improve its business environment through efforts to streamline its administrative procedures, delegate more powers, improve regulations and provide better services.

Achievements have been made by the area in upgrades to its approval procedures and by helping private companies get better access to markets.

The area has also benefited from the establishment of an electronic platform - to integrate verification and streamline commercial approval processes. This has improved efficiency and reduced the application paperwork for registering companies, officials said.

In the first 10 months of the year, some 30,900 new companies were founded in the area, according to the area's market supervision bureau.

As of October, a total of 119,664 private companies were in operation in the area, up 22 percent year-on-year.

This year, PPG Industries, a US-based coatings and specialty materials company, settled its global advanced innovation center in the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area, a part of Binhai New Area.

Yan Caiming, general manager of PPG Asia-Pacific, said that the business environment in the area was attractive.

"We have enjoyed better and better development in the area due to its sound business environment, which also bolsters our confidence to expand here," she said.

In the current year, the area ranked among the top 10 business districts and counties in China, according to a financial study compiled by Xiaokang magazine, a fortnightly Chinese magazine.

Yang Maorong, head of the area, said that the area's private companies have witnessed sustained growth in economic benefits and quantity this year.

"These private companies are maintaining robust development with increasing motivation and vitality," he said.

He said that the area should insist on innovation-driven development to promote the transformation of private companies and the upgrade of sectors, such as the high-end technical equipment sector, and the new energy vehicle and modern finance sectors.

The area will also give full play to its advantages in the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and construction of Tianjin's pilot free trade zone and port to speed up the development of private companies, he added.

liangkaiyan@chinadaily.com.cn 

The World Intelligence Congress held at Binhai New Area in Tianjin in May attracts more than 1,800 specialists and experts on artificial intelligence from 17 countries and regions. [Photo/ China Daily]