Ningbo-Zhoushan Port ranks 3rd for container throughput

 

Container ships pictured in the Beilun No.2 terminal of the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province on July 16, 2018 [Photo/IC]

Alphaliner, a shipping advisory service, recently released its annual "Top 120 Ports Worldwide in Container Throughput in 2018" list. 

Ningbo-Zhoushan Port is now listed third in the world for container throughput, up from fourth a year earlier.

The port has managed to overtake Shenzhen by realizing an annual container throughput of more than 26.35 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), up 7 percent year on year, thanks to rapid growth in foreign trade during 2018.

The port handled around 21.63 million TEUs during January and November last year, up 8.2 percent from a year earlier.

In addition, it strengthened its ties with global shipping alliances such as 2M, OCEAN and THE in organizing shipping routes, and 246 routes were operated from the port by the end of 2018.

China's 10 major ports are all among the top 20 ports on the list.

The Port of Shanghai ranked first with an annual container throughput of 42.01 million TEUs –– the ninth consecutive year that the port has clinched the top position. 

In general, the top 20 ports witnessed a slowdown in their container throughput growth in 2018 due to weak global trade. A total of 340 million TEUs were handled during the year, up 3.8 percent year on year –– lower than last year's 5.6 percent.

Ningbo hotspot for top-tier professionals

 Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province has emerged as a magnet for high-end professionals in recent years.

In 1999, the city established its first postdoctoral workstation - the Ningbo Postdoctoral Workstation of Zhejiang University - in cooperation with Zhejiang University. That figure has now climbed to 212, attracting a total of 1,063 postdocs, official data show.

The group of talent has 1,365 patents and has developed 138 new products above the municipal level. Their research results have generated over 10 billion yuan ($1.45 billion) in output value to date.

One such example is Xia Yin, general manager of the R&D department of Ningbo Exciton Technology Co Ltd.

Born in Cixi, a county-level city in Ningbo, Xia chose to work in his hometown after graduating from East China University of Science and Technology with a doctoral degree in 2014.

He landed his job at Exciton while attending a recruitment fair targeting high-end professionals during the Ningbo Talent, Science and Technology Week, an annual event held by the city.

This year, Xia's role has changed from an employee to an employer while attending the week-long recruitment event.

Over the past six years, Xia has applied for 70 to 80 patents, including more than 20 related to small-sized optical films.

Exciton, which specializes in the R&D of optical films, set up its postdoctoral workstation in 2013, which has since employed a total of nine postdocs.

To date, the postdoctoral program has helped the company generate an additional 280 million yuan in profit and create more than 200 jobs.

A head official at the Ningbo municipal bureau of human resources and social security revealed that more than 100 postdoctoral stations will be built by 2025, bringing the total number of postdoctoral stations in the city to more than 300.

Ningbo is home to 39 enterprises with the highest market shares in their niche markets in China and special efforts will be made to help the 14 enterprises without postdoctoral stations among them to set up one, he added.

Standardized gov't service window launched in Jiangbei

 

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences sets up a research organ dedicated to government services and openness in Ningbo's Jiangbei district on Oct 13. [Photo/ zj.zjol.com.cn]

A standardized government service window was launched in Ningbo's Jiangbei district on Oct 13, according to local media reports.

A total of 14 individual affairs and 9 enterprise affairs now can be handled at the window, with more to be added in the future.

In recent years, Jiangbei has been actively exploring how to provide integrated government services, with the aim of modernizing its governance capability and constructing a transparent and service-oriented government.

Public satisfaction towards administrative approval services in Jiangbei has topped Ningbo four years in a row, according to a third-party report.

It has also ranked among the top three county-level cities nationwide in terms of government transparency for three consecutive years.

The high-quality government services have fueled local social and economic development. Official data show the district’s GDP (gross domestic product) has ranked first in Ningbo four years in a row.

On the same day, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences inaugurated a research organ in the district, which is designed to conduct research on government services and openness.

 

Ningbo ranks 12th in China for business climate: report

 Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province ranked 12th in China in terms of business climate, a recent report said.

In addion to Ningbo, the cities including Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Nanjing and Wuhan also made the top 15 model city list, according to the China Business Climate Report 2020.

The report, the first national report on business climate, evaluated cities in 31 provinces and regions across China.

Ningbo's innovative measures in such fields as protecting small and medium-sized investors, taxation, administrative services and government procurement were included in the report.

In recent years, Ningbo has been making diligent efforts to build a congenial law-based business climate in line with international standards.

Administrative service procedures have been greatly streamlined.

For instance, the approval time for construction projects in the city has been shortened to less than 70 workdays, while the time required for enterprise investment projects has been slashed to a maximum of 47 workdays, down from the original 172. The 105 items that enterprises previously had to declare to import goods have been reduced to just nine.

The optimized business climate has stimulated the local market. Official data show more than 180,000 market entities were established in Ningbo in 2019, an increase of 6.8 percent year-on-year.

The local authorities plan to further deepen systemic reform and promote the application of internet technologies in administrative services, creating a stable, fair, transparent and predictable environment for all types of market entities.

 

Sino-France garden breaks ground in Ningbo

 

A rendering of the Sino-France Friendship Garden in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn]

The Sino-France Friendship Garden, jointly funded by Ningbo and Rouen, France, broke ground in Ningbo, Zhejiang province on Oct 12, according to local media reports.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of sisterhood relations between Ningbo and Rouen. The garden comes as part of efforts by the two cities to cement bilateral ties.

Rouen is a city on the River Seine in northern France and the capital of the region of Normandy. Over the past 30 years, Ningbo and Rouen have cooperated closely in terms of economy, trade, culture, education, health care and city management.

Rouen was honored as an outstanding city for its exchange and cooperation with China by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.

Situated in Ningbo's Eastern New City, the garden, the first to be co-built by Ningbo and a foreign city, will be built in a traditional French style, showcasing Rouen's history, culture and natural scenery.

It is set to occupy 7,650 square meters and is expected to finish construction by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, a Chinese-style garden will also be built in Rouen. Located on Pasteur Avenue on the right bank of the River Seine, the garden will be built using traditional Chinese gardening techniques and will highlight Ningbo culture.

 

Ningbo ranks fifth nationwide in intelligent manufacturing

 Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province ranked fifth nationwide in terms of intelligent manufacturing capacity, after Shenzhen, Shanghai, Beijing and Hefei, according to a recent report.

The 2019 China Intelligent Manufacturing Index (CIMI) Report is compiled by the 21 Century Industry Research Institute and is the first intelligent manufacturing index independently released by a domestic think tank.

Intelligent manufacturing refers to manufacturing using intelligent systems combining machines and human experts.

Intelligent manufacturing reduces the need for manual labor, according to the report.

Guangdong province led the nation in terms of the strength of its intelligent manufacturing, followed by Jiangsu, Beijing, Zhejiang, Shandong, Henan, Shanghai, Hubei, Fujian and Hunan.

CIMI included four indexes—policy environment, industrial environment, industrial development and green manufacturing.

Ningbo prioritizes development of 12 pillar industries

 Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province has been striving to build itself into a national demonstration zone for the development of the manufacturing industry.

The city aims to construct 12 industrial clusters with specific development goals.

The city aims to increase the output value of the green petrochemical and automotive industries to 1 trillion yuan ($144.9 billion), and the output value of the high-end equipment, new materials, electronic information, software and emerging services industries to 500 billion yuan.

It also aims to increase the output of key basic components, smart home appliances, fashion textiles and clothing, biomedicine, stationery and sports supplies, and products related to energy conservation and environmental protection to 100 billion yuan.

By 2025, the city hopes to develop a world-class automotive industrial cluster with Geely and Volkswagen at the forefront.

By that time, the city aims to boost the output value of the automotive industry in Hangzhou bay new area to more than 100 billion yuan, accounting for 20 percent of the total in Zhejiang.

Statistics show that the city's aforementioned 12 industrial clusters achieved an industrial added value of 317.07 billion yuan last year, up 7.3 percent year-on-year, 0.9 percentage points higher than the growth rate of the industrial added value above the designated size.

The city's strong manufacturing capability fuels the city's robust growth in foreign trade.

In 2019, industrial enterprises above designated size exported commodities worth 329.32 billion yuan in total to 225 countries and regions around the world.

A total of 39 manufacturing enterprises based in Ningbo are playing a dominant role in their respective sectors worldwide, ranking first in China.