Former coal capital to refocus on BRI trade

City poised to boost modern development by capitalizing on its regional advantages and industrial foundation

The dynamic city of Zaozhuang, located in the south of Shandong province, is on the move to expand its opening-up by capitalizing on its distinctive regional advantages and leveraging opportunities related to the Belt and Road Initiative.

Adhering to the initiative's global vision and international standards, the new round of Zaozhuang's development will dig into the foreign market and set up more effective foreign trade business platforms, said Li Feng, Party secretary of the city.

"Leveraging the BRI, we are making efforts to build Zaozhuang into a more open and dynamic city with more vitality," Li said.

Zaozhuang, covering an area of 4,563 square kilometers, has a population of 4.22 million. Five districts - Xuecheng, Shanting, Shizhong, Yicheng, Taierzhuang - and the county-level city Tengzhou fall under the jurisdiction of Zaozhuang.

According to officials, the city has long played an important role in Shandong, especially in the modern coal chemical, energy and machinery manufacturing industries, and in providing materials for building construction.

Zaozhuang used to be a resource-intense city with abundant mineral resources. One of the three earliest coal mines in China was established in the city.

While the coal resources are on the verge of exhaustion, the local authorities created a new development mode, focused on changing itself from a "Coal City" to a "Green City".

Zaozhuang is now approved as a pilot city to lead the industrial upgrade from a coal-rich city and it is also paving the way for progress in rural area reform and the promotion of modern agriculture.

In 2018, the city's GDP reached 240.24 billion yuan ($35.86 billion), an increase of 4.3 percent; the general public budget income reached 14.67 billion yuan. The total retail sales of social consumer goods increased by 8.6 percent; and the per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents increased by 6.9 percent and 8.3 percent, respectively.

Li said, since ancient times, Zaozhuang has been home to many famous people throughout its history, with some of their stories becoming much-told tales.

Based on that tradition, the city is gearing up to introduce investment and talent.

Last year, the first session of Conference of Great Business Partners was held in the city. A total of 164 projects with foreign investment worth more than 100 million yuan and 10 projects with investment of more than 1 billion yuan were launched in the city.

Last year, the volume of Zaozhuang's foreign trade reached 10.4 billion yuan, an increase of 3 percent year-on-year.

In particular, trade with the countries and regions involved in the BRI surged significantly last year.

In 2018, a total of 315 enterprises in the city carried out trade with those countries and regions, achieving 3.79 billion yuan trade volume, up 8.9 percent over the same period the previous year, accounting for 35.7 percent of the total foreign trade volume of the city.

To showcase long-standing Chinese culture and customs to BRI countries and regions, Zaozhuang First Animation produced Silk Road, a 52-episode cartoon series, which has been exported to countries such as Russia and Iran.

Based on its own industrial foundation and advantages, Zaozhuang is actively promoting cooperation with the world's top 500 companies and State-owned enterprises. It is striving to achieve an industrial scale of 500 billion yuan in the manufacturing sector in the next three to five years.

"It is not wise to introduce investment blindly without thinking about the local condition," Li said.

Focusing on the existing industrial base and chain, he suggested the wisest course is to introduce projects that are able to grow, strengthen and supplement the local chain around existing industries.

To date, Zaozhuang is constructing a national-level high-tech industrial development zone and six provincial-level economic development zones. A number of industrial parks are also under construction.

Additionally, Zaozhuang has planned a 15-square kilometer demonstration area to boost innovation and entrepreneurship in southern Shandong province.

Through all kinds of projects, the city introduced 116 high-level talent.

"We are making every effort to implement the project of gathering talent in Zaozhuang, combining and integrating the existing policies of attracting investment and talent, providing the best resources and services, and attracting more strategic investors, partners and senior managers," Li said.

An aerial view of Donghu Lake Park, one of Zaozhuang's many landmarks. Photos provided to China Daily

From left: China's ancient Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal passes through Zaozhuang. Railway Guerrilla Red Tourism Sites is located in Xuecheng district in Zaozhuang. An internet town is established to boost the big data industry in the city. 

Taierzhuang ancient town has become a good tour destination for visitors to appreciate the diverse folk architecture and get closer to the Zaozhuang section of the Grand Canal.