TEDA Overview

TIANJIN ECONOMIC TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT AREA

A New Platform for Economic Growth

As one of China's earliest development zones, Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area (hereinafter referred to as TEDA) was set up on December 06th, 1984 upon the approval of the State Council.

Since 1997, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM, the former Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade) started a comprehensive appraisal on investment environment of all national-level development zones which covers eight major indicators like overall economic strength, infrastructure, operation cost, human resources and supply, society and environment, facilitation for technology innovation, management system building, and development and efficiency. For 13 years in a row, TEDA topped the list. It fully deserves the title as the hottest investment spot in China and the Asia-Pacific at large.

In 2006, the development and opening-up of Tianjin Binhai New Area (hereinafter referred to as the TBNA) was officially written into China's Eleventh Five-year Plan, indicating that the entire region has been recognized as the country's third economic eigine after Shenzhen and Shanghai for modern manufacturing, R&D, and incubation, and an eco-friendly and resident-friendly city. It will rise as a harmonious, energetic, promising, and resource-intensive economic platform which will surely create more spiritual and material values and accommodate diversified economic forces and entities.

A Link to the Rest of China and the World

TEDA is bestowed with a superior geographic location. As the heartland of the TBNA, it sits right at the converging point of the Circum-Bohai Economic Belt and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei megalopolis.

To the east, it faces Tianjin Port, which enjoys easy access to over 400 ports in 180 countries and regions worldwide. Today a dredging project for a 250,000-ton waterway is under way there. Once finished, the turnover of the Port will exceed 500 million tons and container capacity 12 million TEUs by 2010.

To the west is the Tianjin Binhai International Airport, the cargo terminal and a major passenger airport of North China. Following the rapid economic growth of Tianjin and the Circum-Bohai Region, the Airport will be able to transport 5.6 million passengers and 500,000 tons of cargo and mail by 2010.

Expressways, a light rail, an inter-city high-speed railway, and cargo railways traversing TEDA connects it with the national rail and road network. The Beijing-Tianjin inter-city rail system will soon shorten the trip between the two cities to 30 minute, once finished in 2008 and be further extended and joined to Metro 9(a commuter line between TEDA and downtown Tianjin) to offer direct traffic between Beijing and TEDA by 2009.

The wide cooperation TEDA enjoys with industry associations, chambers of commerce, trade organizations and trade promotion agencies home and abroad also guarantees more opportunities for our clients. In addition, the fact that it has been chosen as the venue for a series of international events such as Business Week China forum and the summer session (i.e. the Annual Meeting for New Champions) of World Economic Forum fully proved its role as a world-class communication platform.

A Modern Manufacturing Base

By the end of Dec 2010, TEDA has accumulatively approved 4,870 overseas projects from 76 countries and regions (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) with a total investment of 62.2 billion US dollars. Gross industrial output value of 2010 hit 510 billion yuan.76 of the Fortune 500 Companies have invested in 158 projects in TEDA.

Electronics and information, TEDA's biggest leadingl industries, have successfully developed powerful product lines mobile communications terminal, semiconductor chip, electronic parts and components, home audio and video equipment thanks to multinational bignames such as Motorola and Samsung.

Toyota, targeting at 10% of China's auto market share, is another heavyweight here. Since its arrival, numerous suppliers also followed to TEDA and therefore dramatically uplifited the dustering effect of local auto industry. Today a complete chain of whole-car production and component manufacturing has already taken shape. In 2007, the industrialization base of next-generation carrier rocket was set up in TEDA for the production of Long March 5, a high-propulsion carrier rocket designed all by China itself. This project was regarded as a major step forward for the country's space industry.

Local biomedicine industry has maintained an amazing annual growth speed of 30%. By the end of 2008, TEDA has gathered over 70 biomedicine companies including world-renowned GSK, Novo Nordisk, Servier, Zhongxin Phamaceutical, etc. A bio-tech industrial chain covering product R&D, technology transfer, manufacturing, logistics, display and information sharing has been initially created.

Furthermore, in our neighboring regions, a group of mega projects such as Airbus A320, a one-million-ton ethylene plant by Sinopec, and a 10-million-ton oil refinery will definitely absorb more upstream and downstream suppliers to TEDA.

TEDA's profound industrial foundation expedited the rise of service outsourcing. In 2006, Tianjin was recognized by the MOFCOM as one of China's 11 service outsourcing base cities. TEDA, as the model zone for Tianjin's service outsourcing industry, has since gathered a batch of new outsourcing enterprises in information service, human resources, financial management, logistics service, after-sale service, and product R&D businesses. It now offcially listed service outsourcing as one of its priorities and promised to give additional support to financial outsourcing, biomedicine outsourcing, embedded software for mechanical and electronic manufacturing, and product design outsourcing.

A Base for R&D and Incubation

Noticing the vigorous momentum of modern manufacturing, TEDA has invested intensively in leading industries such as equipment manufacturing, electronics and information, biomedicine. It has launched public R&D platforms for targeted R&D programs whick are backed up by abundant human resources from over 200 universities and colleges in Beijing and Tianjin.

By 2009, TEDA had 12 incubators (where 325 startup companies are operating) and a total incubation area of 391,000 square meters. It is also home to 28 engineering & technology research centers, 20 enterprise-owned technology centers, 51 multinational-owned R&D centers, and 35 venture investment companies.By the end of 2009, accumulatively 698 senior talents chose to work in TEDA, including 22 academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE). There were 54 corporate postdoctoral workstations employing 81 postdoctoral graduates. With all these domestic and foreign-funded R&D centers, hi-tech innovation framework has emerged and is ready to offer more inpetus for the region's industrial upgrading.

An Early Bird in China's Comprehensive Reform

In 2006, the TBNA was approved by the Central Government as a pilot zone for China's comprehensive reform. Happy to be anearly bird in this unprecedented endeavor, TEDA is striving to make new breakthroughs in building modern financial service system, reforming land management system, promoting social harmony, and renovating administrative management system.

Sound legal environment largely contributed to the economic success of TEDA. Since its establishment, TEDA has promulgated and made constant amendment on local laws and regulations concerning investment promotion, science and technology development, infrastructure, urban management, labor and social security, and administrative affairs. It has gradually built up a limited government under the rule of law.

An Eco-friendly and Resident-friendly City

Building an eco-friendly and resident-friendly city has always been an integral part of TEDA's dream. It has obtained the ISO14000 Environment Quality Certificate in 2001 and was named a pilot zone for Environment Management of China's Industrial Parks by the State Environmental Protection Agency (the SEPA) and the UNPE in 2002. By boosting industrial chains for its leading industries, TEDA has successfully enhanced energy efficiency, set up a material recycling model for other industrial parks, and realized the minimization of waste and "zero emission" of pollution. It has made tremendous progress in water recycling and built up an integrated water utilization system composing desalinated seawater, disposed waste water and reused gray water. It also boasts China's first man-made wetland with recycled water as supplementary source. While developing recycling economy, TEDA would like to see a win-win scenario between GDP growth and environmental protection. It advocates economic use of raw materials and reuse and recycle of wastes so as to make the best use of everything before, during and after the production process.

TEDA's efforts in fostering cozy and elegant living atmosphere are also noteworthy. It provides residents with all necessary living and entertainment facilities such as school, hospital, cultural club, sports stadium, three-dimensional traffic network, and star-rated hotel. Today this young industrial zone is widely acclaimed as a harmonious dwelling place with green surroundings, colorful cultural activities, and world-class community services.

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