Industrial Zones Crucial to Local Economy

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After more than a decade of development, the economic zones and industrial parks in Xiangtan county have become a powerful engine driving the local economic growth.
Founded in 1992, the Yisuhe Economic Zone is the earliest and the most prominent zone in Xiangtan.
With an average annual growth rate of 40 percent, the gross industrial output value of the development Zone reached 4.95 billion yuan in 2008, doubling the figure of 2006 and accounting for 40.91 percent of the total industrial output value of the county.
In addition, tax and other fiscal revenues from zone reached 200 million yuan in 2008, accounting for 28.37 percent of the county's total.
In this year amid the shadow of the global financial crisis, the Yisuhe zone generated a gross industrial output value of 7.5 billion yuan, an increase of 51.59 percent over the same period of last year.
The Yisuhe zone is a provincial-level economic development zone. It is composed of Tianyi Eco-Industrial Park,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Jinxia Tourism and Cultural Area and the Yisuhe Commercial Area. Covering an area of 15 sq km, it is now home to over 150 enterprises.
On June 8, the Yisuhe Economic Development Zone became a significant part of the Xiangtan Tianyi Demonstration Zone, which is a pilot area in the process to integrate the economies of Changsha, Zhuzhou and Xiangtan.
Approved by the central government,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], the integration initiative of the three important cities in Hunan will focus on building a resource-saving and environmentally friendly society.
At present the Xiangtan Tianyi Demonstration Zone includes the Yisuhe zone, Meilinqiao township and Yisuhe township, the county seat of Xiangtan. It will extend to cover an area of 99 sq km in the next decade.
Zhang Shulin, chief of the Xiangtan county government, said the Xiangtan Tianyi Demonstration Zone has come into the actual operation stage currently because the Yisuhe Economic Development Zone has already had its industries and facilities well in place.
Other major infrastructure projects built or under construction include Tianyi Road,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], a 500 million yuan reconstruction project to be completed by October next year and the Xiangtan section of the Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway, which became operational this month.
In addition, the south Xiangtan substation, a natural gas pipeline network,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], sewage treatment plant and the industrial service center of Xiangtan Tianyi Demonstration Zone and other infrastructure facilities are also in progress.
According to Zhang, some of the country's renowned companies and research institutions have agreed to establish their operations in the demonstration zone.
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) will set up a research and development (R&D) center in the zone. Every year, at least 30 research projects from CAS will be conducted in the center, offering R&D outsourcing services to local enterprises.
Other major projects set for the zone include a 1 billion yuan offshore oil drilling platform project funded by Jianglu Co Ltd and a 235 million yuan copper and aluminum processing plant invested by Golden Dragon International Group.
"These industrial projects are expected to offer a strong support for the development of the demonstration zone,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]," Zhang said.
The county chief said the demonstration zone will give priority to such industries as advanced manufacturing, modern service and agricultural processing.
"Tianyi will become a comprehensive industrial zone that includes an advanced equipment manufacturing industry park, a hi-tech industry park, a R&D service park and a modern agricultural processing park," Zhang added.