The name “Xiangshui,” which is made up of two Chinese characters for “loud” and “water,” was given because of the roaring sound that is triggered by the rise and fall of the river water. Xiangshui County is the intersection of multiple national strategies, including the Belt and Road Initiative, the Yangtze River Delta development integration, Jiangsu’s coastal development, and the Huaihe River Eco-Economy Belt. It is an important hub that interlinks major cities in the north and south.

The local advantages of integrated transportation networks have attracted many central enterprises and listed companies to set up a presence there, such as China Shenhua, China Three Gorges Corporation, China First Heavy Industries, China General Nuclear Power Group, State Power Investment Corporation Limited, Beijing Environmental Sanitation Engineering Group Limited, and Qingdao Tianneng Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.

The Xiangshui Industrial Economic Zone, formerly known as Xiangshui Coastal Economic Development Zone, was established on January 14, 2016 with the approval of Yancheng Municipal People’s Government. It is located in the northeast of Xiangshui County, faces the Yellow Sea in the east, and borders the Guanhe River in the north. It has a planned area of 58 square kilometers, 37 kilometers of Guanhe deep water coastline, and 10 kilometers of sea coastline. National Class I ports have been temporarily opened, and administrative organs like customs and agencies conducting commodity inspections, animal and plant inspections, and sanitary inspection are stationed here.

In addition to these, 26 international air routes to places including Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and the Philippines have also been opened, and the cargo handling capacity of Xiangshui port exceeded 50 million tons in 2018. In recent years, the zone has implemented the development path of opening up the coastal areas and connecting with Shanghai, as well as promoting urban development by green transformation and green cross-domain development. With its unique advantages of connecting sea and land and a transportation system linking sea and river, the zone has actively developed the “port economy” – new metal materials and high-end intelligent equipment industries, a “port area” – modern port logistics, and “a port city” – a metal products trading center. In 2018, it became a 5A level economic zone, and reported sales of RMB 64.7 billion.

From January to October 2019, eight major projects had been implemented with a total investment of RMB 8.67 billion. A series of large companies which were newly introduced to the zone, including Jintian Paper, Longshang Heavy Industry, and a new stainless steel project jointly carried out by Baofeng and Delong, are advancing rapidly as planned. At the same time, Jiangsu Delong Nickel Industry Co., Ltd. simultaneously launched the second and third phase expansion projects in Indonesia and the zone, expanding and strengthening the whole stainless steel industrial chain. By the end of October, Delong Nickel Industry Co., Ltd., Hengsheng Stainless Steel, and Defeng Metal Materials in the zone had completed sales of RMB 64.502 billion, an increase of 33.2 percent year on year. It is estimated that their sales for the whole year will exceed RMB 80 billion. These achievements have made Yancheng a famous manufacturing base in China.

Xiangshui Industrial Economic Zone pays close attention to the cultivation of industry benchmark enterprises and enterprises with strong brands. Tianneng, Longheng, Fuxing, Tianqiang, and other enterprises have been approved as provincial hi-tech enterprises. At present, the master plan and industrial development plan of the zone are being devised to further improve the high-quality development of the zone. In cooperation with Northeast University, the zone is building a research institute of new metal materials as part of its efforts to make itself a national base for new metal materials, a national innovation and entrepreneurship cluster, and a national demonstration base for production, education, and research.

By the end of October, the enterprises in the economic zone had obtained 59 invention patents, and all patented technologies have been put into commercial application.

Providing modern “nanny services” for enterprises is a major feature of the zone. It helps each enterprise find solutions for various issues encountered during the process of implementation and promotion of a project. Recently leaders of the economic zone visited the enterprises and project construction sites to conduct investigation and research, gain a better understanding of the production conditions of enterprises, and solicit opinions and suggestions of project managers. They would transform the research results into solutions that address specific problems, so as to promote the high-quality development of the zone.

A road network that extends in all directions has been completed in the zone, lawns and trees have been planted, and street lights have been installed across the region. In the area of the metal material industrial park, 14 standard plants of about 200,000 square meters have been built successively. In addition, a comprehensive service building and a dormitory building totaling 12,000 square meters of floorage have been built, and public facilities such as power supply, water supply, and sewage treatment have been built. At present, more than 10 enterprises including Deyu Technology, Hongmeng Equipment Manufacturing and Titanium Alloy Pipe Manufacturing have settled down in the park.

In the high-end intelligent industry area, a standard factory building, a project office building, four dormitory buildings totaling 55,000 square meters of floorage and related supporting facilities have been built. Longshang Heavy Industry with a total investment of RMB 1 billion and Kuna Industry with a total investment of RMB 1.1 billion have moved into the park as well.

As the saying goes, “A towering tree has its roots, and water circling around the mountain has its source.” The Xiangshui Industrial Economic Zone will always remain true to its original aspiration, undertake its mission, and make continuous improvements. It will work untiringly to build itself into a provincial level industrial park.