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Sixty years ago, Xiaogang (literally small port in Chinese) was just an ordinary rural town on the southern shore of the estuary where Yong River empties into the sea. In ancient times, however, Xiaogang was of military significance as two mountains near the town and a mountain across the river were the gateway to Ningbo from the sea. The historical change began on January 27, 1984 and has helped transform Ningbo into a mega port in China.
On that day, Xiaogang, previously a rural township under the jurisdiction of Zhenhai County, became part of the newly established Binhai District in Ningbo. What followed rapidly was more than the change of name and jurisdiction. In the early spring of 1984, the national government decided to open up 14 coastal cities in China as special economic zones. One of the 14 coastal cities included Ningbo. On April 10, Xiaogang, due to its geographic advantages, was chosen to host Ningbo Economic and Technological Development Zone. On October 18, the zone was officially approved by the State Council. Ningbo began to take off from that day on.
It happened that I was transferred to work as the chief of Ningbo station of Zhejiang Daily in April 1984. I became an eyewitness to the huge changes taking place in Xiaogang.
In the spring of 1985, I accompanied Zheng Mengxiong, the editor-in-chief of Zhejiang Daily, to visit Xiaogang. Zhang Yongxiang, the party chief of the zone, showed us around. We mounted the Qijia Hill and took a commanding view of a construction site, where a large infrastructure project had just started. Large-scale machines roared on the site, clearing and preparing the ground for further construction projects. Beyond the site stretched cotton fields, a large expanse of salt land that was not arable, and some farmers’ houses here and there. I still remembered having a simple lunch at the canteen of the zone’s administrative committee. The offices were all in a row of single-story houses.
In October 1994, the 70-km2 Beilun Industrial Zone came into being with the approval of the State Council. On the other hand, Ningbo Economic and Technological Zone also expanded to 29.6 km2. Two months after the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the zone, I was appointed editor-in-chief of Ningbo Development Herald, a newspaper focused on the development zones. From then on, I was able to watch Xiaogang more closely.
At that time, the zone government had just moved from Xiaogang to Xinqi near Beilun Port. The highest building there at that time was a nine-storied structure. The newspaper offices were on the second floor of a roadside house, also a temporary structure to provide necessary space. It took me more than an hour to travel from Ningbo to Beilun every day. Within two years, high-rises mushroomed and high-tech projects flooded in. Construction sites were seen everywhere. Dagang (which literally means mega port in Chinese) Industrial Zone took shape.
In early May 1999, on the eve of the 15th anniversary of the founding of the zone, I interviewed Ge Hongsheng, previously the chief of CPC Ningbo committee and provincial governor and then a member of the standing committee of the NPC. He commented that Beilun would play a key part in turning Ningbo into a modern port city and in helping the province’s economy take off.
In July 2001, Ningbo government decided to merge the Beilun Development Zone and the Ningbo Economic and Technological Zone under unified administration though the different names remain. The new system would follow the administrative mode of Shanghai Pudong New District. On November 18, 2002, the new system was officially approved by the Ningbo Municipal Government.
Today, Ningbo is the second largest port in China and the fourth largest in the world. In 2008, it handled 10.846 million TEUs. It is China’s key port where containers, iron ore, coal, liquefied chemicals, and crude oil are shipped and transshipped. Ningbo Port today has regular 200 routes that reach more than 600 ports in over 100 countries and regions across the world. There are more than 800 scheduled liners per month leaving Ningbo Port. Ningbo Port is now actually an alliance of eight ports, which connects the ocean with the inland river system of China. Altogether, there are 298 operating births in Ningbo Port, including 67 births where 10,000-ton ships can dock. The largest birth can dock a 300,000 tonnor. With Hangzhou Bay Bridge in operation now, Ningbo Port has become a shipping center for containers from inland provinces. In 1949, Ningbo Port handled 40,000 tons of goods. Today, it handles 40,000 tons an hour. In 1978, Ningbo Port handled 2.14 million tons of goods whereas the port handles the same amount of goods in two days.
Today, Beilun District is home to five national development zones. These zones are home to many mega industrial projects. In 2008, the combined output of iron and steel, oil, chemicals, energy, auto making and ship making industries totaled 55.3 billion Yuan.
Yesteryears
Ningbo enjoyed its reputation as a port city in history. It was a key port in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) when China shipped its goods to overseas markets. After the Opium War (1839-1842), Ningbo was one of the five gateway ports in China opened to international foreign trade. Its importance was noticed by Doctor Sun Yet-san in 1916. In the autumn of that year, Sun and his wife traveled by ship from Shanghai to Ningbo. However, the Ningbo Port became a river port in modern times.
In July 1973, General Shu Yu came to Ningbo on his national tour to seek deepwater port sites. He found Beilun ideal. The State Council soon decided to expand docks in Zhenhai and Beilun. In 1985, Sir Yue-Kong Pao advised Deng Xiaoping of the economic importance of Ningbo Port, saying that such a deepwater port could be compared to a large bank whose dividends could benefit our descendents for a long time.
In the first years of the Xiaogang Zone, there were almost no special-purposed machines. All the groundwork was done manually. Two teams of hundreds of local farmers took part in infrastructure projects. A team had 500 men and 300 pushcarts. They built dams so that tidelands could be drained and prepared for industrial projects. They did earthwork for building projects. Moreover, they quarried and carried stone materials to construction sites in the zone. In fact, they quarried and moved a whole mountain into tidelands.
On that day, Xiaogang, previously a rural township under the jurisdiction of Zhenhai County, became part of the newly established Binhai District in Ningbo. What followed rapidly was more than the change of name and jurisdiction. In the early spring of 1984, the national government decided to open up 14 coastal cities in China as special economic zones. One of the 14 coastal cities included Ningbo. On April 10, Xiaogang, due to its geographic advantages, was chosen to host Ningbo Economic and Technological Development Zone. On October 18, the zone was officially approved by the State Council. Ningbo began to take off from that day on.
It happened that I was transferred to work as the chief of Ningbo station of Zhejiang Daily in April 1984. I became an eyewitness to the huge changes taking place in Xiaogang.
In the spring of 1985, I accompanied Zheng Mengxiong, the editor-in-chief of Zhejiang Daily, to visit Xiaogang. Zhang Yongxiang, the party chief of the zone, showed us around. We mounted the Qijia Hill and took a commanding view of a construction site, where a large infrastructure project had just started. Large-scale machines roared on the site, clearing and preparing the ground for further construction projects. Beyond the site stretched cotton fields, a large expanse of salt land that was not arable, and some farmers’ houses here and there. I still remembered having a simple lunch at the canteen of the zone’s administrative committee. The offices were all in a row of single-story houses.
In October 1994, the 70-km2 Beilun Industrial Zone came into being with the approval of the State Council. On the other hand, Ningbo Economic and Technological Zone also expanded to 29.6 km2. Two months after the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the zone, I was appointed editor-in-chief of Ningbo Development Herald, a newspaper focused on the development zones. From then on, I was able to watch Xiaogang more closely.
At that time, the zone government had just moved from Xiaogang to Xinqi near Beilun Port. The highest building there at that time was a nine-storied structure. The newspaper offices were on the second floor of a roadside house, also a temporary structure to provide necessary space. It took me more than an hour to travel from Ningbo to Beilun every day. Within two years, high-rises mushroomed and high-tech projects flooded in. Construction sites were seen everywhere. Dagang (which literally means mega port in Chinese) Industrial Zone took shape.
In early May 1999, on the eve of the 15th anniversary of the founding of the zone, I interviewed Ge Hongsheng, previously the chief of CPC Ningbo committee and provincial governor and then a member of the standing committee of the NPC. He commented that Beilun would play a key part in turning Ningbo into a modern port city and in helping the province’s economy take off.
In July 2001, Ningbo government decided to merge the Beilun Development Zone and the Ningbo Economic and Technological Zone under unified administration though the different names remain. The new system would follow the administrative mode of Shanghai Pudong New District. On November 18, 2002, the new system was officially approved by the Ningbo Municipal Government.
Today, Ningbo is the second largest port in China and the fourth largest in the world. In 2008, it handled 10.846 million TEUs. It is China’s key port where containers, iron ore, coal, liquefied chemicals, and crude oil are shipped and transshipped. Ningbo Port today has regular 200 routes that reach more than 600 ports in over 100 countries and regions across the world. There are more than 800 scheduled liners per month leaving Ningbo Port. Ningbo Port is now actually an alliance of eight ports, which connects the ocean with the inland river system of China. Altogether, there are 298 operating births in Ningbo Port, including 67 births where 10,000-ton ships can dock. The largest birth can dock a 300,000 tonnor. With Hangzhou Bay Bridge in operation now, Ningbo Port has become a shipping center for containers from inland provinces. In 1949, Ningbo Port handled 40,000 tons of goods. Today, it handles 40,000 tons an hour. In 1978, Ningbo Port handled 2.14 million tons of goods whereas the port handles the same amount of goods in two days.
Today, Beilun District is home to five national development zones. These zones are home to many mega industrial projects. In 2008, the combined output of iron and steel, oil, chemicals, energy, auto making and ship making industries totaled 55.3 billion Yuan.
Yesteryears
Ningbo enjoyed its reputation as a port city in history. It was a key port in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) when China shipped its goods to overseas markets. After the Opium War (1839-1842), Ningbo was one of the five gateway ports in China opened to international foreign trade. Its importance was noticed by Doctor Sun Yet-san in 1916. In the autumn of that year, Sun and his wife traveled by ship from Shanghai to Ningbo. However, the Ningbo Port became a river port in modern times.
In July 1973, General Shu Yu came to Ningbo on his national tour to seek deepwater port sites. He found Beilun ideal. The State Council soon decided to expand docks in Zhenhai and Beilun. In 1985, Sir Yue-Kong Pao advised Deng Xiaoping of the economic importance of Ningbo Port, saying that such a deepwater port could be compared to a large bank whose dividends could benefit our descendents for a long time.
In the first years of the Xiaogang Zone, there were almost no special-purposed machines. All the groundwork was done manually. Two teams of hundreds of local farmers took part in infrastructure projects. A team had 500 men and 300 pushcarts. They built dams so that tidelands could be drained and prepared for industrial projects. They did earthwork for building projects. Moreover, they quarried and carried stone materials to construction sites in the zone. In fact, they quarried and moved a whole mountain into tidelands.