Located in northeast China's Liaoning Province and along the Bohai Bay, Jinzhou City is beefing itself up to become a modern international port for petrochemicals, bulk cargos and containers and at the same time stimulate the local economy, said Tong Zhiwu, secretary of the Jinzhou municipal Party committee at a press briefing on May 26.

By 2015, the berths in Jinzhou would be capable of docking 100 million tons of shipping, said Tong.

So far Jinzhou Port has 12 deepwater berths which can accommodate 27 vessels of 10,000-ton apiece at the same time. It has an established network of sea transport ties with over 30 countries and regions.

Though the city has 150 km of coastline, its degree of opening up is relatively low and many considered it as an inland city before, said Tong. But now it is seizing the opportunity of the provincial development strategy launched at the beginning of this year.

Part of the strategy will see the ports in the five cities of Huludao, Jinzhou, Yingkou, Dalian and Dandong?-- all located along the coastline of Bohai Bay and the Yellow Sea -- expanded. And there's reference made to the Binhai Road currently under construction which links all five areas. The 1,443 km road runs from Huludao to Dandong and is expected to assist in developments.

Jinzhou has an area of 10,301 square kilometers and a population of 3 million. Liaoning Province planned to revitalize the old industrial city as it is the most convenient passage for import and export for the west part of northeast China and eastern area of Inner Mongolia.

Last year local government invested heavily in infrastructure with the construction of expressways and railways.

The Jinzhou Xihai Industrial Zone, the key area for opening up in the city, is under construction and covers a planned area of 22.76 square kilometers with a total investment of 737 million yuan (US$91.78 million). It is anticipated that the zone will generate an annual industrial output value of 70 billion yuan (US$8.72 billion). It will focus on the heavy industries and petrochemicals.

The opening-up of Jinzhou has drawn much attention from home and abroad. At the Liaoning Jinzhou Bay Development International Forum last week, 16 enterprises of the world's top 500 including GM and Simens were in attendance. They hoped to find new investment opportunities around the Jinzhou Bay, according to Tong Zhiwu.

As the Pearl River and the Yangtze River deltas, two economic engines in China, have encountered barriers, such as insufficient land and energy resources, many companies have began to shift their eyes northeast especially after the central government made the decision to rejuvenate the old industrial base of northeast China, according to Tong.

(China.org.cn by staff reporter Guo Xiaohong, June 1, 2006)