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TEDA Sets the Pace for China’s Development Zones

Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area (TEDA) is one of the oldest economic zones in China, but the sprawling industrial park on the shores of the Bohai Sea is refusing to show its age. Through a series of environmentally and investment-friendly policies, the industrial zone has succeeded in boosting the city of Tianjin’s development and is a model for the country’s other, younger industrial zones.

TEDA, established in 1984 on a wave of economic reform promoted by Deng Xiaoping, was one of a series of state-level development zones designed to attract foreign direct investment and promote a model of economic growth based on strong manufacturing and international trade.

Its location, a salt flat adjacent to the Tianjin Port on Bohai Bay, was considered ideal for the development tasks ahead. The development zone sits at the crossroads of the economic belt that runs the length of the Bohai coast and is easily accessible by all of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei metropolises. Today, it’s a stone’s throw from the Tianjin Port, which connects to 400 ports and 180 countries worldwide. A US$1.95 billion port expansion was announced in early 2010, which will involve the creation of an extensive logistics network, connecting it to 16 inland ports.

In addition, TEDA is serviced by the Tianjin Binhai International Airport (one of the largest air cargo centers in China), the Beijing-Tianjin intercity high-speed train system, and more than 10 highways that connect the area to the entire country.

Moving Up the Value Chain
During its first two decades, TEDA’s primary focus was manufacturing and export, much like of the rest of China. In the early 2000s, however, the economic zone was one of the first to start looking ahead. Since then, TEDA has moved quickly up the value chain, introducing to its expanded campuses a range of high-tech and high-value new enterprises.

Today, TEDA includes six sections: TEDA East, TEDA West, Nangang Industrial Zone, TEDA Industrial Park, Microelectronics Industrial Park, and Yat-Sen Scientific and Industrial Park. The whole area supports a range of industries, including telecommunication, automotive, petrochemical, equipment manufacturing, biopharmaceutical, aviation, food and beverage, new energy and new materials, and modern services such as finance logistics and service outsourcing.

The expansion of TEDA’s scope is in part due to China’s 11th five-year plan, released in 2006. Development of the Tianjin Binhai New Area was officially written into the plan, recognizing the region as one of the country’s key economic engines for modern manufacturing and research and development. TEDA’s growth reflects those priorities, with special facilities set up for advanced manufacturing, computer science and high-tech research and development. The area is home to Tianjin University Science Park, the site of several key state research projects such as the National Nano Base and the National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center.

Inflow of Foreign Investment
TEDA has leveraged the combination of its location and its forward-looking policies to attract a range of foreign companies. By the end of October 2010, the development zone had approved 4,851 overseas projects from 76 countries and regions (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan), which together boast a total investment of US$60.9 billion. Gross industrial output value in October 2010 reached US$66.2 billion.

Among the companies that have established bases in the area are Motorola, Samsung, Toyota and Novo Nordisk. Thanks to their efforts, TEDA is seeing an expanding number of homegrown products, conceived and developed entirely within the development zone. New product lines, including mobile communications terminals, semiconductor chips, electronic parts and components, as well as home audio and video products, all call TEDA home.

Eco-Friendly Development
TEDA is not only environmentally friendly, it is also livable, an attribute that is often overlooked in China’s development zones. In 2001, it was named a pilot zone for Environmental Management by China’s State Environmental Protection Agency and United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in 2002. TEDA has since worked to improve energy efficiencies, and has set up a material-recycling model for other industrial parks.

TEDA has also focused its resources on a water-recycling program, building an integrated water-utilization system that includes desalinated seawater, disposed wastewater and reused gray water. Residents in the area also benefit from China’s first man-made wetland, which uses recycled water as a supplementary source.

In addition to an environmentally friendly park, the TEDA community offers a range of amenities for residents. Pedestrians can stroll by the TEDA Library on Third Avenue in the same walk that takes them by the TEDA Investment Service Center. Schools, hospitals, luxury hotels, parks and malls are all nearby. The area’s residents come from more than 30 countries and regions.

Looking Forward
While it has led the country in establishing a high-tech, high-value development zone, TEDA is not stopping there. It is currently developing both a new petrochemical cluster in its Nangang Industrial Zone and the TEDA Modern Service District (TEDA MSD), a headquarters for the financial services area located in the center of TEDA East. This new complex, a cross-shaped block adjacent to the area’s Financial Street and Citizen’s Plaza, will feature A-grade office buildings, high-end hotels and shopping malls. Among the buildings is the 1,700-foot-high CTF Binhai Center, an investment of the New World Group from Hong Kong, which will be the highest skyscraper in the entire Tiajin Binhai New Area.

The petrochemical cluster has attracted major companies including Dow Chemical, Air Liquide and others to a 200-square-kilometer dedicated chemical industrial park under the TEDA brand. The area will facilitate the integration of a range of applications, from upstream to downstream.

Clearly this successful development zone is not resting on its laurels.