COFCO Coca-Cola Beverages to build bottling plant in Central China's economic development area

The first State-level new area in Central China recently attracted its first investment from a Global Fortune 500 enterprise.

COFCO Coca-Cola Beverages Ltd signed a contract with the Wangcheng Economic Development Zone, part of the Xiangjiang New Area in Changsha, Hunan province, on June 18 to build a bottling plant.

COFCO Coca-Cola Beverages invested 320 million yuan ($51.5 million) into its new bottling plant in Xiangjiang New Area.

The State-level new area, a special economic development zone supported by favorable central government policies, is the first for the region that includes Henan, Hubei and Hunan provinces.

Construction on the new plant will begin in August and be put into operation at the end of next year.

Xiangjiang New Area, which opened its doors to businesses on May 24, sits on the west bank of the Xiangjiang River, the biggest in Hunan province that is also a tributary of the Yangtze River.

It occupies 490 square kilometers, covering Yuelu and Wangcheng districts as well as parts of Ningxiang county in the provincial capital Changsha.

It is home to three industrial parks: the Changsha National High-Tech Industrial Development Zone, Ningxiang Economic Development Zone and Wangcheng Economic Development Zone.

Approved by the State Council in April, Xiangjiang New Area is Central China's new economic growth base for creative industries, high-tech manufacturing and innovation. It will also serve as an example of how urban and rural planning can be integrated, local authorities said.

Authorities added that they envision the new area aiding in the development of the Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone.

Hu Henghua, mayor of Changsha, said Xiangjiang New Area will further strengthen cooperation with other cities along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, especially with provincial capitals such as Wuhan (Hubei province), Nanchang (Jiangxi) and Hefei (Anhui).

Xiangjiang New Area began in 2008 as the Dahexi Pilot Zone, with an aim to establish an environmentally friendly and energy-saving economic zone. By the time it adopted its current name in June 2014, over 570 billion yuan had been invested in the new area for more than 1,700 projects that involved transportation, public services and industry. More than 3,000 companies had also moved into the area.

Last year, the Xiangjiang New Area's GDP reached nearly 200 billion yuan, accounting for 30 percent of Changsha's total revenue, according to local statistics.

Changsha authorities said the new area will experiment with measures on administrative management, financing and investment, a household registration system and the creation of an ecological civilization system.

General plan

On May 7, the National Development and Reform Commission issued a general plan for the new area, specifying its strategic positioning, spatial layout and development priorities.

It said the new area would play an important role in promoting the economic and social development of regions along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

According to the plan, by 2025, the Xiangjiang New Area will realize an urbanization rate of 80 percent and will be home to such industries as modern services, advanced manufacturing, ecological tourism and modern agriculture by working with other regional governments and companies.

China has 12 national-level new areas. Shanghai's Pudong New Area, which was established in 1992, was the first, with others scattered across the nation in such cities and provinces as Tianjin, Chongqing, Zhejiang, Gansu, Shaanxi and Guangdong.

China uses these areas to test its reform measures.

The 12th national new area, the Xiangjiang New Area is rich in natural resources, such as the Xiangjiang River, Yuelu Mountain, Orange Island and Yanghu Lake Wetland. There are over 30 colleges and universities, 40 academicians and 40 research institutes in the new area that cover such technologies as supercomputing, biobreeding, 3D printing and information network construction.

In the next three years, the Xiangjiang New Area will invest about 6 billion yuan to construct five infrastructure projects. Seven subway lines, for example, will be built to connect the new area with the rest of Changsha, according to Changsha Metro Group.

Eleven industrial projects in the new area will either begin construction or be completed by 2018, with a total investment of nearly 90 billion yuan.

They include the 12-billion-yuan Xiangjiang New Area International Healthcare Town, which will start construction this year and be home to eight hospitals and facilities; a 10-billion-yuan Gree Intelligent Household Appliances Industrial Park that will boast Hunan's largest refrigerator production base and be put into operation at the end of the year; and a financial center and the regional headquarters of several Chinese banks.

About 2 billion yuan will be invested in the new area by the central government to build 18 primary and middle schools and educational facilities by 2018.

Contact the writers through haonan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 07/06/2015 page12)