Help the Neighbors

Help the Neighbors

Support from Beijing has boosted Chengde’s economic and social development

Chengde City, Hebei Province, a famous tourism city, has a unique location. It is adjacent to Beijing, China’s political and cultural center, Tianjin, the economic center in north China, Liaoning Province, the old industrial base in northeast China, and Inner Mongolia, an important energy base.

The Jingshen High-speed Railway, with trains traveling at a speed of 350 km per hour between Beijing and Shenyang City in Liaoning Province, has shortened the trip from Chengde to Beijing to one hour and the journey from Chengde to Tianjin to two hours.

Chengde has a mix of modern industries including leisure travel, vanadium, titanium and steel industries, special agriculture, clean energy, equipment manufacturing and new materials.

With a fabulous location and rich resources, Chengde’s industries have great growth potential.

Close ties with Beijing

In recent years, spurred by the municipal governments of Beijing and Chengde, cooperation between the two cities has been progressing smoothly.

Cooperation between the two cities’ governments has been institutionalized. A coordination mechanism for such cooperation has been established. And cooperation between enterprises has also been strengthened.

Statistics show that in recent two years, the two cities have cooperated in 398 projects, involving 12 billion yuan ($1.76 billion) of invested capital. Since last May, Beijing has provided 7.69 million yuan ($1.13 million) to support Chengde, 1.71 million yuan ($251,792) of which went into water resources protection and other ecological protection projects. The money boosted Chengde’s economic development, increased farmers’ incomes, and improved its ecological environment. The positive changes have a spill-over effect on Beijing’s vicinity.

From July 6-10, Chengde hosted a promotional week in Beijing Exhibition Center, and a seminar on Chengde’s industry growth, investment and trade. These events aimed at introducing Chengde to the outside world, stepping up broad, diversifed and high-level cooperation between Beijing and Chengde, and attracting investment. Chengde initiated contacts with large enterprises and foreign organizations in Beijing. Contracts for a total of 36 projects were signed at the events, with a total investment of 16.48 billion yuan ($2.42 billion).

Cooperation spurs economic boom

In recent years, Chengde has made remarkable economic and social progress. It has met its economic targets ahead of time. In 2009, its GDP reached 76.01 billion yuan ($11.18 billion), and its per-capita GDP was 22,198 yuan ($3,264.4), up 14.7 percent and 14.3 percent respectively from the averages of the previous four years. Its fscal revenue in 2009 totaled 10.01 billion yuan ($1.49 billion).

The two cities are making plans for the next five years. They would like to deepen cooperation in various fields such as urban development, infrastructure construction, environment protection, agriculture, tourism and fnance. Cooperation in these felds is expected to speed up Chengde’s economic and social development.

Development blueprint

The city gives priority to developing new technologies, green industry and tourism. Chengde will also expand its vanadium and titanium production and further develop modern agriculture. It also actively nurtures clean energy, equipment manufacturing and new material industries.

Yang Chongyong, the vice governor of Hebei Province (left) and Zhang Gujiang, Chengde’s mayor at an event held by Chengde to attract investment

Contracts on cooperation projects are signed at a promotional event hosted by Chengde in Beijing

Chengde emphasizes sustainable development and use of natural resources, speeding up infrastructure construction and improving city management.

It strives to be an international tourist destination. Chengde Mountain Resort is the summer residence of emperors in Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Remains of the royal gardens take up more than half of the city, which is permeated with an air of regalness.

In 1994, the Mountain Resort and its outlying temples were inscribed in UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Chengde is among China’s first batch of 24 famous historic and cultural cities, and China’s top 40 tourist attractions. It has won numerous honorary titles over the years. In June 1998, the Mountain Resort was named one of the 10 model civilized scenic spots in the whole country. At the end of 1998, Chengde was rated as the Top Tourist City in China.

Chengde plans to invest 10 billion yuan ($1.47 billion) in building 43 high-end tourism facilities, including hunting grounds, golf courts and spas. Thirty-six facilities are currently under construction.

Chengde Municipal Government gives policy incentives to investors. It has set up 50 key investment projects. Chengde welcomes businesses and talented people to settle there.

By CHEN JIANMIN