Investing in Liaoning City (Jinzhou City)
I. An Introductory Overview of Jinzhou City
Jinzhou, a prefecture-level city in Liaoning Province, stands as a regional central city in western Liaoning and a pivotal logistics hub in Northeast China. Encompassing an area of 10,301 square kilometers, Jinzhou comprises two cities, Linghai and Beizhen, and two counties, Heshan and Yixian, with five districts: Guta, Linghe, Taihe, Binhai New Development Zone, and Songshan New Development Zone. With a permanent population of 2.704 million, its urban population exceeds one million.
With a history dating back 2,100 years, Jinzhou derives its name, meaning "city of brocade," from its historical production of royal brocade garments, brocades, and brocade embroideries. Nestled south of the Bohai Sea and holding a crucial point within the Western Liaoning Corridor, Jinzhou commands militarily strategic importance and has been witness to significant historical events and battles.
In the late Ming Dynasty, it became the battleground of the famous Songjin Battle between the Ming and Qing Dynasties, a conflict pivotal for the Qing Dynasty's expansion into the central plain.
In modern history, Jinzhou played a crucial role in the establishment of the Communist Party's Goubangzi Railway branch, one of Liaoning's earliest grassroots organizations. During the tumultuous period following the September 18th Incident, Jinzhou emerged as a stronghold for anti-Japanese resistance in western Liaoning, marking the beginning of the northeast people's resistance against Japan. Moreover, it was here that the Liaoxi-Shenyang Campaign, the first of the three decisive Campaigns of the Liberation War, commenced in 1948, marking the dawn of the new China.
From January 1949 to August 1954, Jinzhou served as the capital of the former Liaoxi Province, emerging as a regional political, economic, and cultural center. In the 1960s, it achieved numerous milestones in innovation, producing China's first transistor, nylon yarn, artificial oil, plastic flower, electro-bombardment furnace, and artificial crystal plate.
During his inspection tour in Liaoning Province on August 16, 2022, Chairman Xi Jinping made his first stop to Jinzhou, appraising it as an excellent "heroic city" and a pivotal strategic chokepoint. He articulated his anticipation for Jinzhou to accelerate its endeavors in bolstering the reinvigoration of Northeast China. This statement underscores Jinzhou's significance as an attractive investment destination and epitomizes its role as a key player in the regional economic landscape.
A combination of favorable geographical position and convenient transportation makes Jinzhou a pivotal transportation hub connecting Northeast and North China, as well as a significant port city in the Bohai Sea region. Its comprehensive transportation network - encompassing airports, seaports, railways, highways, and oil and gas pipelines - positions Jinzhou as a regional logistics and commercial hub in Liaoning. With a new coastal economic development area spanning 372 square kilometers, Jinzhou Port stands as a Class A international port in China's northernmost coastline and the first port listed in A/B share markets. Meanwhile, Jinzhou Bay Airport ranks among Liaoning's top three airports, boasting seven domestic routes connecting to prominent cities such as Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Kunming, Taiyuan, and Harbin, handling an annual passenger throughput of 250,000.
Currently, Jinzhou is advancing along three key developmental pathways: positioning itself as a pivotal logistics hub city, spearheading the establishment of the Northeast China’s New Land-Sea Corridor, and transitioning into a regional center city.
First, as a logistics hub city, Jinzhou is capitalizing on its strategic geographic location to propel modern logistics development, leveraging its seaports, airports, and landports. This entails bolstering multimodal transport infrastructure and developing an integrated logistics ecosystem. These efforts aim to create a seamless marine gateway and comprehensive logistics hubs catering to the needs of Northeast China's western region, eastern Inner Mongolia, Mongolia, and Russia's Far East.
Second, the establishment of the Northeast China’s New Land-Sea Corridor aligns with the central government's directives to support the reform, innovation, and high-quality development of Northeast China. This initiative involves expediting the construction of the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor and fostering the land-sea channel connecting Xilingol League, Chifeng city, Chaoyang city, and Jinzhou city. Serving as a vital segment of the broader land-sea channel in northeast Liaoning province, this corridor will link Jinzhou Port as a pivotal land-sea hub with Xilinguole League as a land port, facilitating connectivity from South Korea and Japan to the south, and extending to Mongolia, Russia, and Europe to the north.
Lastly, Jinzhou's transformation into a regional center city is mandated by the provincial government and aligns with Jinzhou’s "One logistic hub, five development centers" strategy. This strategy seeks to optimize urban layout, enhance economic influence across western Liaoning province, facilitate the free flow of production factors, and foster high-quality economic growth. Jinzhou is presently focusing on establishing itself as a logistics hub city, complemented by initiatives such as the New Land-Sea Channel construction, logistics cost optimization, and industrial integration. These endeavors aim to stimulate industrial agglomeration, expand industrial scale, drive urban development, and ultimately solidify Jinzhou's status as a regional central city.
Moreover, Jinzhou is a renowned "red" city, having served as the principle battleground of the Liaoshen Campaign. Today, it preserves over 100 historical sites and relics pertaining to this Campaign, including landmarks such as the Liaoshen Campaign Memorial Hall, the former Jinzhou headquarters of the Northeast Field Army, and the theatres of the Peishuichi and Black Mountain battles. The rich "red" heritage of Jinzhou has established itself as one of China's top ten destinations for red tourism, enhancing its appeal as an investment-worthy city with profound cultural significance.
In addition to its "red" heritage, Jinzhou is a city steeped in history and culture, serving as the birthplace of the first Shenzhouraptor sinensis.. Its rich tapestry of history is a testament to the harmonious fusion of Central Plains, nomadic, and maritime cultures, evident in ancient relics such as the Wanfotang Grottoes, Fengguo Temple, Beizhen Temple, and the imperial tombs of the Liao Dynasty. Noteworthy among these is the Qingyan Temple, with a history dating back 1,500 years to the Northern Wei Dynasty.
Jinzhou has been a nurturing ground for numerous renowned figures across various fields, including painter Zhang Ding, calligrapher Da Kang, writer Xiao Jun, astronaut Zhang Xiaoguang, and Olympic champion Zhang Ning. Moreover, it is home to one world-class and ten national-level intangible cultural heritage projects, as well as five professional troupes specializing in Peking Opera, Pingju Opera, song and dance, acrobatics, and puppetry.
Jinzhou is also a coastal tourism city, boasting a sea area of 1185 square kilometers and a picturesque coastline stretching 124 kilometers. Renowned for its abundant tourism resources, Jinzhou offers a diverse array of unique landscapes, encompassing mountains, seas, rivers, lakes, forests, wetlands, and mesmerizing ice and snow scenery. Recognized as an outstanding tourist city in China, Jinzhou hosts numerous natural wonders.
Among these, the path of Bijia Mountain stands out for its captivating tide-induced spectacle of appearing and disappearing, hailed as a marvel of the world. Yiwulue Mountain, immortalized in the "Songs of Chu" by Qu Yuan, one of China’s most celebrated ancient poets, is revered as one of China's five Zhen Mountains, earning it the title of North Zhen Mountain. It is from this majestic peak that Jinzhou’s Beizhen City derives its name, adding depth to the city's rich cultural heritage. Furthermore, the Maritime Expo Park entices visitors with its distinctive features
Lastly, Jinzhou is also a dynamic hub of innovation and entrepreneurship, boasting a robust ecosystem conducive to development. Currently, the city hosts one national-level development zone, one national-level high-tech zone, and five provincial-level development zones. Leveraging its strong scientific and educational foundations, Jinzhou stands as a pivotal center for education, scientific research, healthcare, and culture in Liaoning Province.
With nine institutions of higher learning nurturing over 100,000 students, along with significant infrastructure such as one national enterprise technology center, 25 provincial key laboratories, and 40 provincial innovation centers, Jinzhou demonstrates its commitment to fostering innovation and technological advancement. The city is home to 205 high-tech enterprises, 923 technology-based SMEs, and four tertiary general hospitals and one specialized hospital.
Jinzhou's development plan revolves around six key industries: petrochemicals and fine chemicals, new energy, metallurgy and new materials, advanced equipment manufacturing, biopharmaceuticals, and deep processing of agricultural and sideline products. With a focus on 24 specific sub-sectors and 32 industrial chains, Jinzhou aims to achieve a GDP of 150 billion yuan by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan. The city is also actively nurturing a new generation of electronic information technology and application industries represented by electronic components and integrated circuits, while focusing on the development of port-related and consumer goods industries.
Jinzhou's digital industry is experiencing rapid growth. The Huawei Liaoning Region (Jinzhou) Cloud Computing Data Center, the most sophisticated and largest data center in Northeast China, has been put into operation, creating a nationally renowned big data industrial cluster. Upon completion of its second phase, the project will provide nationwide services such as application hosting, data storage, and disaster recovery. Furthermore, the first phase of the "Jinzhou Digital City" project, with a total investment of 280 million yuan, is underway, attracting a number of leading enterprises in the digital industry. In the future, a cluster of digital service-oriented industries will emerge, fostering a vibrant, diverse, open, and inclusive "youth community" in Jinzhou.
II. key words
Heroic city, strategic chokepoint, Jinzhou is excellent (Chinaman Xi Jinping’s remark)
The "136921" development strategy, the development positioning of "one hub, two centers, and two highlands", the "seven cities", the "16132" plan of doubling the output of industrial enterprises and the number of enterprises, the "14451" large-scale modern agricultural system, the "116213+N" high-quality integrated system of culture, sports, and tourism, and the "12275" standardized construction service system for parks.
Notes:
"1" refers to promoting the construction of a regional central city. "3" refers to focusing on three key developmental pathways, namely "the new land-sea corridor in Northeast China, the logistics hub city, and integration into the coordinated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei." "6" refers to developing six leading industries. "9" refers to leveraging the roles of nine development zones. "2" refers to doubling the output of industrial enterprises and the number of enterprises. "1" refers to introducing 1,000 key projects each year.
2. The developmental positioning of "one hub, two centers, and two highlands": "one hub" refers to building Jinzhou as a national logistics hub city, "two centers" refers to constructing a "modern industrial cluster near ports" and a "science, education, and innovation center", and "two highlands" refers to establishing a nationally renowned highland for the integrated development of regional cultural tourism and a highland for excellent regional public services.
3. the "16132" plan of doubling the output of industrial enterprises and the number of enterprises: By 2025, we aim to cultivate one billion-level industrial cluster in petrochemical and fine chemical industries, six hundred-million-level enterprises, ten enterprises with an output surpassing 5 billion yuan, 30 rapid-growth technological enterprises with an output exceeding 1 billion yuan, and 200 enterprises with an output of over 100 million yuan.
4. “Seven Cities”: Based on Liaoning’s developmental positioning of "six strategic regions" in the new era, we are striving to build Jinzhou as a city that can carries out national major strategies, and establish a port city of modern industrial base in Northeast China, a hub city for internal and external openness in Northeast China, a regional pioneer city for science, education, and innovation, a supporting city for the development of modern agriculture in Liaoning, a high-quality city for the integrated development of culture, sports, and tourism, and a city with excellent regional public services.
5. “14451” large-scale modernized agriculture system: "1" refers to upholding the responsibility of safeguarding national food security and building a diversified food supply system. "4" refers to expanding four leading industrial clusters, namely grain and oil, livestock and poultry, fruits and vegetables, and aquatic products. "4" refers to strengthening four provincial agricultural product processing clusters, including Panghe in Heishan county, Goubangzi in Beizhen city, Dayou in Linghai city, and Qilihe in Yixian county. "5" refers to revitalizing five specialized agricultural product markets, including Beizhen vegetables, Heishan cereals, Xiaodong livestock, Yixian peanuts, and Taihe agricultural and sideline products, and building a digital settlement platform. "1" refers to achieving a breakthrough of 100 billion yuan in the output of agricultural system of "planting, breeding, and processing" by 2025.
6. "116213+N" high-quality integrated system of culture, sports, and tourism: "1" refers to adopting an approach characterized by “planning first, enterprises taking the lead, driving resource integration, cultivation of high-quality brands, and ensuring policy support”, so as to propel their integrated development; "1" refers to bolstering one culture and tourism group to generate a potent driving force; "6" refers to integrating six tourism resources of “red” resources, Bijiashan Moutain, Yiwulue Mountain, North Putuo Mountain, Fengguo Temple, and Qingyan Temple, forming a strong support for the in-depth growth of tourism; "2" refers to promoting the construction of the Yiwulue Mountain AAAAA scenic spots and hot springs National Tourism Resort in coastal wetland, creating a competitive tourism brand; "1" refers to drive the integration of 10 cultural, sports and tourism benchmark projects, promoting comprehensive upgrade of tourism quality; "3" refers to building a tourism system of integrating the elements of “mountain, sea, and city” ; "N" refers to creating N brand scenarios of culture, sports and tourism, striving to create a high ground of regional culture and tourism integration.
III. Website of Jinzhou City
