Exploring the Regional Economy

By staff reporter WU XINYI

Hengshui Wetland is a provincial level bird nature reserve.

Located on the North China Plain, Taocheng district comes under Hengshui City jurisdiction. It's also the city's political, economic and cultural center, and is just 250 kilometers south of Beijing and Tianjin, north China's major trading port. To its south lie Xingtai and Handan, huge coal, iron and steel production bases, and 100 kilometers west is Shijiazhuang International Airport. Taocheng is 180 kilometers to the west of Huanghua and Binzhou ports on the Bohai Bay and a major transportation hub in the regions surrounding Bohai Sea, and the Beijing and Tianjin areas. Taocheng is also the junction of two trunk railways (Beijing-Kowloon Railway and Shijiazhuang-Dezhou Railway) and three trunk highways—National Highway 106, Shijiazhuang-Jinan and Shijiazhuang-Huanghua highways.

Convenient communications create favorable conditions for Taocheng's development; its advantegeous location has taken it to the top of the government agenda to develop regional economy.

Central Task: Industrial Development

Taocheng's government has made key project construction the foothold of economic development. According to its work plan, the year 2004 will see the construction of 70 key projects with investment exceeding five million yuan. This includes four at provincial levels and 10 above city levels. Investment for six projects whose investment exceeds 100 million yuan stands at 2.57 billion yuan. It is estimated that within the year, investment in key projects will exceed one billion yuan. Forty-five projects are now under construction. Key projects set an example and create favorable conditions for other projects.

Taocheng District of Hengshui City boasts rich agricultural by-products and land resources.

Taocheng has maintained a 15 percent economic growth since 1998, and its industry plays a key role. At present, Taocheng has four pillar industries of rubber, chemicals, metallurgy and papermaking, and the products sell well at home and abroad.

State-owned enterprises contribute greatly to national economic growth, and share-holding reform has been successfully launched in Taocheng's state-owned enterprises.

Reforms have revitalized Hengshui No. 2 Paper Mill, predecessor to the Jinguang Papermaking Company. The company was founded in September 1972, and since 1998 has invested 270 million yuan, increasing production capacity from 5,000 tons in 1998 to its current 80,000 tons. The company now owns 380 million yuan in assets, employs 1,500 people and ranks first in Hebei Province for production capacity.

The company has adopted the "three steps" strategy since 2002: the first step is the 120 million yuan alkali recovery project, finished at the end of last year. A pioneering project in Hebei Province, it greatly increased facility capacity and helped to solve water pollution problems.

The other two steps are forest-paper integration project phases I and II. Within the first phase, 400 million yuan will be invested in a 70,000-ton wood pulp production line. During the second phase, one billion yuan will be invested in a 100,000-ton wood pulp production line. The total output is estimated at 250,000 tons. 

Taocheng formulated a series of preferential policies to boost private economy, and the year 2003 saw the establishment of 150 non-public enterprises with investment exceeding 500,000 yuan. The private economy has become a major component of Taocheng's economy; its added value constitutes 60 percent of the total industrial volume.

Founded in 1985, Hengshui Haijiang Filter Press, a filter press manufacturing base appointed by China National Chemical Equipment Corporation (CNCEC), is Tocheng's star enterprise. It is a professional solid-liquid separator plant, and is listed among China's biggest drum vacuum filter research and development bases. Its major products are the filter press, drum vacuum filter and sealed pressure filter, which are widely used in chemical, petroleum, food, pharmaceutical, coal washing and water purification industries. They have been honored as "Hebei's famous brands" for two consecutive years, and have realized a sales volume of 100 million yuan in the past year. The company is the biggest of its kind in the industry, holding the biggest market shares. Products are supplied to the domestic market, and exported to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

Competition makes it imperative to develop characteristic industries, and Taocheng District has taken a series of measures to aid this development. It is estimated that within this year, the four pillar industries' profits and taxes will make up 60 percent of the total urban and rural industrial volume.

Taocheng has given consideration to both high economic growth and sustainable development. Its guiding principle is "be practical and realistic, launch reforms in an all-round way, concentrate on focal points, adopt cautious measures, emphasize practical results and be far-sighted."

Agricultural Development Base

Taocheng abounds in agricultural by-products and land resources. Its per capita cultivated land and per capita grain, cotton and oilseed output are higher than the provincial and national average.

Increasing output on limited cultivated land calls for agricultural structuring, increased scientific and technological content, and agricultural industrialization and modernization. "Developing agriculture through science and technology" is Taocheng's key economic development strategy.

Hengshui Haijiang Filter Press is a key filter press manufacturer in China.

Increasing farmer incomes is a national issue, and farmers in Beijing and Jilin are exempt from agriculture tax, which raises their income and boosts agricultural development. Taocheng is now focusing on three key industries — cattle, vegetables, and fast-growing forest, and is striving to accelerate agricultural industrialization, improve agricultural returns and increase farmer' income.

Founded in June 1998, Dengzhuang Agricultural Science and Technology Demonstration Garden covers an area of 500 mu, and is the result of agricultural restructuring. Its development mechanism, agricultural restructuring and increased farmer incomes have been widely praised.

The garden has an investment of 25 million yuan, with centers for intensive sapling cultivation, scientific and technological training, vegetable inspection, and processing and distribution. In 2001, the garden was named "provincial level agricultural science and technology demonstration garden," "Hebei provincial pollution-free vegetable production base," and "vegetable production and supply base of Beijing." With support from China Agricultural University, National Vegetable Research Center and five other scientific research institutions, it has favorable conditions for improving its technology.

The Hengxing series pollution-free vegetables have won many national and provincial accolades. They sell well in the domestic market, and are exported to Japan and Russia. The cherry tomato holds a 60 percent market share in the Beijing market. 

Dengzhuang has set up a good development mechanism, and today's Dengzhuang is a comprehensive agricultural demonstration garden combining production, processing, sales, experiment, demonstration and tourism.

Taocheng has a total 45,000 head of livestock, of which 34,000 are full-grown. A number of animal husbandry farms have been established, including a cattle farm whose livestock numbers 10,000, three live cattle export enterprises and one cattle slaughtering and processing enterprise with an annual capacity of 10,000 heads.

Aided by Jinguang Group, Taocheng has planted 120,000 mu of fast-growing forest, and it will increase that number to 200,000 mu by 2005. Following the example of Taocheng, counties and cities in the surrounding areas have developed 600,000 mu of fast-growing forest.

Adequate Energy Resources

Hengshui Power Plant, with a capacity of 1.2 million kW, is southeast Hebei's biggest power plant. It includes two 300,000 kW generating units, which have been added to the grid, and two more are under construction. It is now working on the projects to divert water from the Yangtze and Yellow rivers, which will move 560 million cubic meters of water each year. A national wetland and bird nature reserve, the Hengshui Lake is an ideal habitat for fish and birds, and fascinating tourist destination. Abounding in water resources, it provides water for industrial and agricultural production and aquatic cultivation, and supplies adequate hydraulic power for Taocheng's rapid and sustained economic development.