Growing with Our Investors—TEDA Writes New Chapter for Future in 40th Anniversary (2020-2024)

On October 20, 2024, a symposium marking the 40th anniversary of the establishment of China’s first group of national-level economic and technological development zones was held in North China’s Tianjin. As one of China’s 14 earliest and best national-level development zones, Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area (TEDA) welcomed this significant event at a crucial juncture in its 40-year history, inspiring the entire area.

Over the past 40 years, TEDA has transformed from a 33-square-kilometer salt pan into a 403-square-kilometer landscape with distinctively-featured 10 sub-zones. Starting from scratch, TEDA has been pioneering and grown into a role model for national-level development zone. A “TEDA Model” was created and turned out to be a vivid epitome of China’s reform and opening-up.

TEDA has created remarkable miracles in economic growth over the past four decades. Covering only 1/30 of Tianjin’s area, it has contributed over 1/7 of the city’s GDP, 1/5 of its foreign investment, 1/4 of its industrial output value, and nearly 1/3 of its import and export volume. It serves as a key platform for Tianjin to advance high-quality development and high-level opening-up. The momentum unleashed by reform continues to inject vitality into this new industrial park, propelling it toward an even brighter future.

Since its inception, TEDA has been entrusted with the role of a testing zone. Without financial support, theoretical guidance, or mature models to follow, TEDA started from scratch, forging ahead with innovation through trial and error. It has set numerous precedents in China’s reform and opening-up history, contributing a wealth of institutional innovation examples. TEDA was the first to carry out a Legislative-First management model and to explore the new concept of operational environment, the first to propose that “Investors are kings, and projects are lifelines,” the first to build a “simulated international investment environment”, and pioneered superior infrastructure for investors with “nine availables and land flattening”. TEDA was also the first to introduce an efficient rolling development model, following the principle of planning, developing, and profiting in phases to achieve a low-input, high-output, and self-sustaining growth cycle. The potential of industrial planning was unleashed on this ground for the first time. As early as 1997, TEDA proposed the philosophy of industrial operations. In 2018, TEDA carried out in-depth research on creating a “4+1” industrial structure to make industries more clustered.

Today, TEDA has developed into one of China’s best national-level development zones in terms of economic aggregate, comprehensive investment environment, and globalization level. It has been ranking top among national-level development zones in key economic indicators and overall development levels for 16 consecutive years in the list released by the Ministry of Commerce. TEDA has also remained a leader in optimizing the business environment in the country. In 2021, TEDA spent more efforts in meeting the special needs of key industries. It created a business environment evaluation system tailored to key industries such as biomedicine, new chemical materials, and platform economies, empowering TEDA’s industries and providing a benchmark for research on business environments in China. In 2024, the TEDA Business Welcome Center was inaugurated as China’s first multi-stakeholder integrated service hub for enterprises. It brings together over 80 organizations, including industry associations, renowned universities, leading companies, and top-notch intermediaries, offering 190 value-added services across six categories, including legal affairs, international trade, finance, technological innovation, intellectual property, and talent.

Over the past 40 years, TEDA has remained steadfast in its commitment to prioritizing the needs of investors. With forward-looking vision and strong execution capabilities, it has kept innovating itself in further optimizing its business environment to attract investors from around the globe. As a long-time partner of TEDA’s development, PPG Tianjin, which settled in TEDA 30 years ago, has witnessed the area’s innovative practices and persistent efforts to build a world-class business environment. “PPG’s growth and success are inseparable from the support and assistance of TEDA,” said Cathy Yan, General Manager of PPG Asia Pacific.

As a pioneer of reform and opening-up, TEDA has been tasked with attracting foreign investment since its inception. In 1992, Motorola had its presence in TEDA, becoming China’s first wholly foreign-owned enterprise. Following Motorola, giant enterprises such as Samsung, Toyota, Volkswagen, Otis, SEW, Novo Nordisk, Novozymes and Nestlé flocked to the area, which not only spurred economic growth in TEDA but also brought advanced foreign technologies, management concepts, and professional talents. These achievements have accelerated the industrialization in Tianjin and even across China. By the end of 2023, TEDA has attracted 6,478 foreign-invested projects from 97 countries and regions with actually utilized foreign investment totaling nearly $70 billion. 124 Fortune 500 companies have invested in 573 projects here. Foreign enterprises in TEDA have contributed approximately 45% of tax revenues, nearly half of the GDP, and over 70% of industrial output value, becoming an indispensable force for regional development.

The continuously optimized business environment and industrial agglomeration effect have further attracted foreign enterprises to deepen their root and expand investments in TEDA. FAW Toyota has increased its investment by $1.17 billion annually for three consecutive years, reaching a total of $5.6 billion, and upgraded its operations to become the headquarters for FAW Toyota’s business unit. In August 2024, it launched a hydrogen energy truck project. Projects such as the SEW Smart Assembly Center, Grammer Interior Tianjin Production Base, Nouryon World-Class Organic Peroxide Base, and Mars Pet Food Tianjin Factory went into production, driving TEDA’s industries to grow bigger and stronger. In 2024, Novo Nordisk began the construction of a 4-billion-yuan sterile formulation expansion project in TEDA, following a 1.18-billion-yuan investment in 2023 to expand its finished product workshop. Novo Nordisk started its journey into China from TEDA in 1994, gradually expanding its operation scale in China over 30 years. Today, the Tianjin plant has grown into one of Novo Nordisk’s global strategic production bases, achieving localized production of multiple insulin products listed in China.

While expanding localized production capabilities, foreign investors have gradually established globally strategic R&D institutions in TEDA, bringing R&D closer to production and accelerating new products to enter the market. Since 2020, several foreign-funded R&D centers, including PPG Global Coatings Innovation Center, PPG Battery Pack Application Center, Otis North China R&D Center, and Volkswagen (China) Technology Co., Ltd. Tianjin Branch, have successively started operations in TEDA. These centers not only accelerated the localization process of enterprises but also further integrated TEDA into the global innovation chain. Judy Marks, Chair, Chief Executive Officer and President of Otis Worldwide Corporation said, “TEDA has been home. It’s our largest manufacturing facility anywhere in the world of our 17 factories. We also last year established our northern R&D center here. Our vision is to allow people to connect and thrive in a taller, faster, smarter world. I can’t think of a better place to do that than in Tianjin.”

While attracting foreign investors to “come in”, accelerating industrial clustering, and integrating into global markets, TEDA is also committed to helping more domestic enterprises “go global” and expand their international business. To achieve this, TEDA has elevated its openness to a higher level, innovating in broader fields and on a larger scale. Recently, TEDA Administrative Commission signed a memorandum of understanding with UAE China Innovation Center to jointly promote cooperation and exchanges between enterprises and institutions in both regions. TEDA has leveraged the advantages of the Pilot Free Trade Zone by establishing platforms such as Tianjin Pilot Free Trade Zone Cross-Border Investment and Financing Service Center and Binhai Fund Town, as well as North China (TEDA) One-Stop Service Base for Enterprises Going Global, which provides full-chain public services and one-stop solutions for outbound enterprises. These initiatives have formed dynamic practices of “coming in” and “going global”. TEDA’s international circle of friends continues to expand.

Over more than 40 years of development, TEDA has established a “4+1” industrial structure of four pillar industries, namely, automotive, high-end equipment, next-gen information technology, new chemical materials, and biomedicine, along with modern services. The combined scale of these four pillars exceeds 500 billion yuan, with their industrial output value accounting for 1/4 of that in Tianjin. In recent years, TEDA has innovatively implemented the Manufacturing+ strategy, focusing on Manufacturing + R&D, Manufacturing + Intelligence, Manufacturing + Green, and Manufacturing + Finance to help enterprises improve quality and efficiency while accelerating the cultivation of new quality productive forces. Today, TEDA is home to 42 digital workshops and smart factories, 30 national-level green factories, 12 green supply chain management enterprises, 74 municipal-level green factories, and 4 municipal-level green supply chain management enterprises. TEDA is a pacesetter of the manufacturing sector in intelligent, digital, and green transition in Tianjin.

In its early days, TEDA’s strategy of growing with investors quickly achieved large industrial scale and strong economic growth. In the new period, the top priority for TEDA is how to absorb advanced concepts to nurture its own giant enterprises. Focusing on core areas such as R&D and design, high-end manufacturing, and services, TEDA has fostered innovative companies like i-KingTec, Sunke Digital Control, Sublue, AtomRobot, Rocor Medical, SINOMED, and Reach Surgical, while introducing new innovative entities and projects. In 2021, Bloomage Biotechnology (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. began operations in Nangang Industrial Zone. In 2023, a smart equipment project with a 650-million-yuan investment by Xinxing Cathay International Group was launched. Cosychem Technology (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. established a production line for 80 tons of IVD raw materials, nucleic acid drugs, and APIs annually in TEDA. SINOMED’s drug eluting stent HT Supreme™ received EU MDR certification. According to Sun Jianhua, Chairman of SINOMED, “Only by competing with the next-gen products of foreign giants and bringing China’s innovative high-end devices to the global market, can a company establish its global brands.” Products from these local companies were gradually entering the global market, becoming a name card of TEDA’s robust industrial foundations. By the end of 2023, TEDA was home to 1,142 national-level high-tech enterprises. In 2023, 1,247 national-level technology-based small and medium enterprises and 766 Eagle, Gazelle, and Leader enterprises registered in TEDA, among which were 31 Leader enterprises that ranked first in Tianjin.

Innovative entities are the core elements of the emergence of new industries and new products to accelerate new quality productive forces. Innovation platforms serve as crucial sources for the development of new quality productive forces. TEDA hosts major innovation platforms such as National SuperComputer Center in Tianjin, Tianjin International Joint Academy of Biomedicine, Tianjin Academy for Intelligent Recognition Technologies, and China’s Next-gen Carrier Rocket Industrialization Base. Numerous petrochemical R&D institutions, including SINOPEC Beijing Research Institute of Chemical Industry, SINOPEC Research Institute of Petroleum Engineering, SINOPEC Research Institute of Petroleum Processing, as well as CNOOC Research Institute, launched pilot platforms in TEDA, continuously enhancing the its core capabilities of independent innovation. National SuperComputer Center in Tianjin houses the Tianhe new-generation supercomputer, where supercomputing power is transforming into productivity, becoming a super engine for technological innovation and industrial development across the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region and nationwide. In the latest international Graph 500 rankings, the Tianhe new-generation supercomputer system won the top spot on the Big Data Green Graph 500 Ranking. These high-quality innovation incubators have nurtured a batch of innovative enterprises, accelerating the industrialization and commercialization of basic research, and driving the development of high-end, precision and cutting-edge industries in the area.

By fostering population growth through industry, driving urban development through people, and enhancing industry through the city, TEDA has seen its permanent population steadily increase alongside the development of regional industries and the settlement of numerous domestic and foreign enterprises. With increasingly improved urban functions, a vibrant new city with industries, quality living, and vitality now proudly stands on the shores of Bohai Bay.

To enhance people’s sense of gain, happiness, and security, TEDA has vigorously promoted initiatives such as “quality education for all, excellent medical care, and livable housing”. In 2021, Tianjin Juilliard School, the first overseas collaborative program of the world-renowned Juilliard School, settled here, attracting music students from around the globe to TEDA to pursue their musical dreams. By 2024, several prestigious schools opened, including Yaohua High School Binhai Campus, Yueyang Road Primary School, East China Normal University Affiliated Tianjin TEDA School, and TEDA No. 1 High School, accelerating the formation of TEDA’s elite school cluster in basic education. TEDA boasts a comprehensive healthcare system, encompassing general hospitals, specialty hospitals, community health centers, and internet-based hospitals, meeting residents’ diverse and multi-level healthcare needs. The area is also thriving commercially, creating an ecosystem where commerce, culture, and parks coexist within a one-kilometer radius. This year marks the third anniversary of the Tianjin K11 Select Shopping Art Center. As the first commercial art project of the K11 Group in Tianjin, K11 Select has, over the past three years, brought cutting-edge retail experiences to the public through its unique design, blending top-tier art and cultural creativity.

Today, TEDA has been a place of beautiful scenery at every step. Both banks of the river offer endless vistas, with the Tianjin Chow Tai Fook Financial Center towering into the sky and the Binhai Cultural Center encompassing a wealth of attractions. Events such as TEDA Summer Arts Festival, Tianjin Binhai Light Festival, Seaside LOHAS Festival, and Tianjin Juilliard School Piano Arts Festival are held frequently, infusing this open, diverse and inclusive city with even more vitality and hope.

On the south side of TEDA Street, the inscription “Development zones are of great promise” on the “Pioneer Plow” Monument shines brightly under the sunlight. On Nanhai Road, flags of the top 100 companies in the area flutter in the wind. The white semi-circular archway on Yingbin Avenue emblazoned with China (Tianjin) Pilot Free Trade Zone welcomes guests from all direction. These landmarks are witnessing TEDA’s growth.

Over the past 40 years, TEDA has strived to open new fronts in development with new actions and new measures. Today, standing at the new starting point of its 40th anniversary, looking back on TEDA’s regional construction and industrialization progress, one evokes a surge of passion and boundless pride. In the future, TEDA will adopt the stance of forging ahead every day to serve as a trailblazer for reform and development, striving to make greater contributions to the high-quality development of Tianjin and creating even greater miracles on the grand journey of reform and opening-up.