Embracing Marine Economy: TEDA to Promote Ports, Industries, and Cities Integration

Tianjin International Shipping Industry Expo 2024 (TISIE 2024) was held at the National Convention and Exhibition Center (Tianjin) from July 10th to 13th. Over 400 enterprises, including Fortune Global 500 companies, listed companies, and industry leaders in global shipping and supporting upstream and downstream industrial chains, gathered in Tianjin. Once again, this northern seaport city has come under the global spotlight thanks to its port.

As a Tianjin model of national-level development zone, TEDA actively organized local enterprises to participate in the expo. Multiple key projects were signed during the event, including the GenerTec Green Supply Chain Industrial Base, with a total investment of 11 billion yuan. These projects are expected to inject substantial momentum into the local marine economy industries and the high-quality economic development for the region.

Tianjin Port, a crucial maritime gateway for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the Three-North areas, serves as an essential hub for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and a key platform for integrating land and sea transport. This modern international shipping hub connects to over 500 ports in more than 180 countries worldwide. Everyday numerous ships and vehicles pass through the port, facilitating the export of food, automobiles, and high-end equipment from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and its surroundings. Conversely, medicines, fresh food, fruits and vegetables from around the globe enter the Chinese market through Tianjin Port.

As a significant global cargo distribution center and a vital window for international economic exchange and cooperation, Tianjin Port has ranked among the world’s top 10 ports for consecutive years. In the first half of 2024, Tianjin Port Group handled 248 million tons of cargo, a year-on-year increase of 3.1%, and processed 11.88 million TEUs of containers, a year-on-year increase of 4.6%. With 147 container shipping routes, the port provides abundant international maritime channels for enterprises in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to go global.

TEDA is only a 10-minute drive from Tianjin Port. Leveraging the port’s strategic location and transportation advantages, TEDA has attracted an increasing number of globally renowned companies to invest and establish factories. By the end of 2023, TEDA had utilized a total of USD 69.557 billion in foreign investment, with 124 Fortune Global 500 companies investing in 573 projects. The cumulative number of foreign-invested projects reached 6,478. High-quality “Made in TEDA” products were shipped from Tianjin Port to destinations worldwide.

Ports are a core advantage for Tianjin’s development. In today’s increasingly globalized world, Tianjin is accelerating the construction of a world-class seaport city, taking multiple measures to promote the integration of ports, industries, and cities.

Tianjin Binhai New Area, as an important carrier of Tianjin’s port-industry-city integration development, is building a marine industry development pattern characterized by marine oil and gas, petrochemical industries, and marine equipment manufacturing. Emerging marine industries such as seawater desalination and high-end equipment are developing rapidly. TEDA is actively seizing this development opportunity to promote the growth of marine economy industries. TEDA is gaining increasing economic momentum.

Nangang Industrial Zone: Building a World-Class Chemical New Materials Base

Tianjin Nangang Industrial Zone is one of TEDA’s top 10 industrial parks, positioning as the sole high-quality development hub for Tianjin’s petrochemical industry. It is also an essential chemical industry base in the Bohai Bay area, a gateway for new chemical materials in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and a world-class green chemical new materials base.

The zone has a coastline of 32.1 km with 21 production berths and 100,000-ton channels that operate year-round. It supports rail-sea intermodal transportation and is equipped with an extensive public pipeline network, providing excellent infrastructure and transport conditions for large petrochemical projects.

As a national demonstration base for the new industrialization of the petrochemical industry, Nangang Industrial Zone hosts numerous leading chemical new materials companies, including Sinopec, PetroChina, CNOOC, BCIG, BASF, ExxonMobil, SABIC, INEOS, Huntsman, Shell, Cabot, Nippon Paint, PPG, Capchem, Henghe, and Rianlon.

Key projects like the 1.2 million tons/year ethylene project by Sinopec and Nangang, Beijing Gas and Tianjin Nangang LNG emergency reserve project, and BCIG New Materials Industrial Park attracted more high-value-added product projects, forming a comprehensive industrial chain from oil and gas extraction and processing to basic chemical raw materials, chemical new materials, and terminal applications. This establishes an integrated industrial system featuring oil at upstream, chemical products at midstream, and light textiles at downstream . “The park is gradually presenting a new paradigm where raw materials do not leave the zone, products are supplied between upstream and downstream enterprises nearby, and the industrial chain develops in a symbiotic and complementary cycle”, said a relevant official of the Nangang Industrial Zone.

Nangang Industrial Zone currently has over 10 million cubic meters of crude oil storage capacity, 15 million tons of LNG receiving capacity, and more than 1 million tons of lubricating oil production capacity. It is a crucial national energy security base, strengthening the high-quality development of both TEDA and Tianjin.

The zone integrates development and safety, with platforms for dual prevention mechanisms, environmental monitoring and early warning systems, and intelligent energy management to reduce pollutant emissions and utilize waste resources. Green energy projects like wind and photovoltaic power are advanced. The zone were recognized as a national smart chemical park, green chemical park, and the most promising chemical park of 2023. A green chemical new materials base and petrochemical industry cluster characterized by “high-end, refinement, green, safety, and intelligence” is emerging in Nangang.

Booming Development of Marine Equipment Industry

TEDA not only boasts a 100-billion-yuan industrial cluster in chemical new materials but also a robust high-end equipment industry that continues to make significant progress. Recently, China’s self-developed smart factory for marine oil and gas completion tools was completed and put into operation in TEDA East. This factory will be used for the intelligent production of the high-end “Haihong” completion tools, developed by China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC). This marks a comprehensive shift towards the intelligent manufacturing of high-end marine completion tools in China, significantly improving the production efficiency of complex oil and gas fields, shortening the construction time, and extending the exploitation lifespan.

While making key technological breakthroughs, we saw TEDA-Made marine equipment set sail overseas successively. In February 2024, Tianjin BOMESC Offshore Engineering Company began work on the floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel project for Equinor, a Norwegian state oil company. Upon completion, the project will be deployed in the giant pre-salt zone in the southern Campos Basin. In recent years, Tianjin has issued policies such as the Tianjin Marine Equipment Technology Innovation and Development Plan to vigorously support the development of the marine equipment industry. In May 2024, a delegation from the Tianjin municipal government visited world-renowned marine equipment companies to seek cooperation, actively securing project orders for BOMESC.

Developing Power of Marine Energy

Chemical new materials and marine equipment industries are just a snapshot of the booming marine economy in TEDA. In TEDA, the advancing green industries such as offshore wind power and seawater desalination brought new vitality to the marine economy.

The Three Gorges New Energy Tianjin Nangang Offshore Wind Power Demonstration Project, located in the eastern sea area of the TEDA Nangang Industrial Zone, has filled the gap in offshore wind power projects in Tianjin. After this project is put into operation, the annual power generation is expected to be about 600 million kilowatt-hours. In addition, Vestas and Dongfang Wind Power wind turbine factories in TEDA support enterprises such as Baettr New Energy, Cyberray, and Corby Electric Systems. This formed a relatively complete wind power industry chain from resin raw materials at the upstream to  nacelles, blades, generators, and control systems at the midstream, and wind power plant construction, consulting, and maintenance at the downstream. It is an important wind power equipment production base in China, contributing to the development of TEDA’s offshore wind power industry.

TEDA is also seeing rapid development of seawater desalination. Desalinated seawater is the main water source for industrial use in the Nangang Industrial Zone. Recently, the fourth production line of the first phase of the 300,000-ton demonstration project of Xianda (Tianjin) Seawater Resources Development Co., Ltd. in Nangang was successfully commissioned. The project will provide high-quality industrial water supply for Nangang. TEDA is also home to enterprises in the field of membrane desalination. Tianjin MOTIMO Membrane Technology Co., Ltd., a leading enterprise in the Chinese membrane industry, has an annual production capacity of 5 million square meters of seawater desalination membranes, meeting the demand for seawater desalination of 2 million tons per day. It is an important force in the seawater desalination industry chain in TEDA.

Promoting Innovation in Shipping Service Industry

A good number of leading shipping and logistics companies gathered in TEDA, including Tianjin Port Second Container Terminal, CIMC Logistics, Minmetals Logistics, and Sinotrans. It also hosts renowned International Association of Classification Societies (IACS）such as DNV GL (Det Norske Veritas) and ClassNK (Nippon Kaiji Kyokai), along with various shipping service companies like Tianjin HydroSurvey Engineering Co., Ltd. and Tianjin Bohai Fine Chemical Trading Co., Ltd., establishing a comprehensive high-end maritime service ecosystem. TEDA aims to use TEDA Shipping Base and Yuxiang International Shipping Building as two core carriers. To make the shipping service industry more innovative, TEDA focuses on new types of service like “Shipping + Finance”, “Shipping + Platform”, and “Shipping + Cultural Tourism”.

As one of the first national pilot areas for industrial-financial cooperation, TEDA boasts rich financial resources. The shipping finance sector, characterized by ship leasing, bond financing, supply chain finance, and industrial funds, is growing rapidly. TEDA-based ICBC Leasing Co., Ltd. is China’s first bank-affiliated financial leasing company, with businesses covering aviation, maritime, and comprehensive leasing sectors. Owning nearly 400 vessels, the company has maritime operations extending to over 20 countries and regions, and provides maritime financial services to many well-known shipowners and cargo owners worldwide. Recently, the company was approved to establish ICBC Aviation Leasing Co., Ltd. in Hong Kong, accelerating the international layout of its shipping financial leasing business. 

In the oil and gas trading sector, the Tianjin International Oil and Gas Trading Center is an internet trading platform providing regular spot trading services for various oil and gas commodities. In June 2024, the center launched the trial operation of the “LNG Order Channel” trading section, aiming to build a highly market-oriented natural gas spot trading scenario to meet the diverse spot trading and delivery needs of real enterprises.

The cultural tourism industry is also a crucial part of the marine economy industrial chain. TEDA continuously optimizes urban functions such as tourism, commerce, and leisure, accelerating the layout of the marine cultural tourism industry. Popular “marine tour” projects include Dagukou Fort Site Museum, Tianjin Polar Ocean Park, Beitang Ancient Town, Tianjin Cruise Home Port, Dongjiang Bay Beach Resort, TEDA Aircraft Carrier Theme Park, and National Maritime Museum. Brand activities like “Seaside LOHAS Festival” and “Binhai Dragon Boat Race” allow residents to enjoy the new achievements of integrated port-industry-city development.

Riding the wave of integrated port-industry-city development, TEDA continuously will keep on optimizing the business environment, revitalizing marine economy industries, and extending industrial chains, so as to promote ports, industries, and cities integration.