Twenty Projects Totaling 56.7 Billion Yuan are Started in the SCODA, and Six Projects Totaling 45.6 Billion Yuan are Signed!
On November 20, a ceremony was held for the commencement of key projects in the China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Area. Twenty key projects with a total investment of 56.7 billion yuan were started, and six key projects with a total investment of 45.6 billion yuan were signed. The projects started and signed are large and rich in business forms, refreshing the speed of project promotion in Qingdao and hitting the best record of SCO.
Sherali Jonon, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), sent a video congratulation, saying that the groundbreaking ceremony is an important event in the process of SCO local economic and trade cooperation, marking a new stage of development in the construction of the SCODA. It is reported that the 20 projects, with a total investment of 56.7 billion yuan, cover seven areas, including infrastructure, equipment manufacturing, international logistics, modern trade, bilateral investment, commerce, tourism and cultural exchanges, and biomedicine. These projects are characterized by rich SCO elements, wide distribution of business forms, and high standard of planning and construction.
Among the infrastructure projects, the comprehensive project of SCO International Conference Center is invested and constructed by China Railway Development and Investment Co., Ltd., with a total investment of 8.5 billion yuan, which will become an important cultural landmark in the SCO Plaza area. The comprehensive project of Jinhu North Shore Underground Ring Road is invested and constructed by China Communications Construction Company Limited, with a total investment of 10.6 billion yuan, providing a strong guarantee for green travel and slow-moving space in the core area of the SCODA. The Central Park underground space and plaza landscape project is invested and constructed by China Construction Infrastructure Co., Ltd., with a total investment of 9.5 billion yuan. The project upholds the planning and development concept that pursues “underground” space, “air” benefits, and “intensive” resources. It develops underground pedestrian systems, parking systems, above-ground landscape channels, and other composite spaces.
“In accordance with the concept of ‘utilizing the underground and air spaces efficiently’, we have carried out the planning and design of the 10-k㎡ core area of the demonstration area with high standards and high efficiency, the total volume of planned buildings is nearly 17 million ㎡, and the three infrastructure projects that started this time are all within the core area.” said Meng Qingsheng, deputy director of the Administrative Committee of SCODA. The SCODA highlights the planning concept of “international paradigm, humanistic sharing, three-dimensional intensification, ecological livability, and smart technology,” and the underground space planning integrates “three-dimensional transportation, public services, green utilities, smart management” and other comprehensive functions. The SCODA will gradually build a SCO urban development paradigm featuring synergistic development above and below ground, integrated development of industry and city, and harmonious balance between ecology and life.
Shanghai Electric Wind Power Equipment Industrial Park, Singapore Mapletree Logistics, Sinotrans Smart Logistics Industrial Park, Suning (SCO) Cross-Border E-Commerce Industrial Park, Wohler New Packaging Materials Production and R&D Center, China Animal Health and Epidemiology Center Jiaozhou Innovation Base, and many other key domestic and foreign projects have been introduced.
“I was shocked to see so many projects commenced in the SCODA despite the pandemic. In particular, many of these projects are oriented to the SCO and the countries along the ‘Belt and Road’ for economic and trade exchanges, and some are for bilateral investment with the SCO and the countries along the ‘Belt and Road.’ Through this ceremony, we can see the growing bilateral and multilateral cooperation between SCO countries and countries along the ‘Belt and Road’ under the impetus of the SCODA,” said Rumman Ahmad, Counsellor for SCO Affairs, Embassy of Pakistan.
Under the challenge of the COVID-19, the SCODA has been upgrading SCO planning, strengthening SCO advantages, optimizing the SCO environment, and expanding the SCO presence, supported by multiple measures to build a world-class business service brand of “SCO Service to Your Satisfaction” and accelerate the construction of projects.
“What attracts us to move in are the SCODA’s superior location, traffic, and ecological conditions, and most importantly, its good faith,” said Fan Jinglin, Vice President of Jingdong Industrial Development on behalf of Jingdong Qingdao Intelligent Industrial Park. Currently, Jingdong is in full swing to develop technological transformation. After the project is put into operation, it will build a cross-border e-commerce center, an intelligent logistics center, a trade distribution center, and a regional procurement and settlement center based on Jingdong’s advanced cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, and supply chain technologies, with a view to creating China’s first-class intelligent logistics industrial park and expanding international cooperation fields.
On that day, six big projects with a total investment of 45.6 billion yuan were signed and settled in SCODA, involving high-end manufacturing, marine technology, R&D platform, urban complex, and other fields. They feature large investment scales, high technological content, strong driving effects, and rich SCO elements. Among them, the Nidec Motor Industrial Park project is invested by Nidec Corporation, which will develop and produce all kinds of motor products, and is expected to have an annual output of 15 million motors and 15 million control panels, with an output value of $400 million after reaching design capacity. The China-Pakistan Center project with an investment of 1.7 billion yuan will set up and operate the Pakistan Center of Excellence, the Visa Service Center, the Product Exhibition and Trading Center, the Bilateral Culture, Tourism and Education Exchange Center, the China-Pakistan Cross-border E-Commerce Trading Center, the Financial Center, the Pakistan Investment Center, the China-Pakistan Bilateral Investment Enterprise Headquarters, the China-Pakistan Science and Technology Innovation Park, and a platform for entry of Pakistan business associations. These projects represent new high ground for China-Pakistan cooperation.
“Demonstration means setting a model. Based on the opening-up pattern in China, we should be bold and passionate in our efforts to create a unique SOB transcript and model, and explore the open value of a new platform for ‘Belt and Road’ international cooperation.” Meng Qingsheng said. The projects to be started and signed will greatly enhance the construction of “five major centers” regarding international logistics, modern trade, bilateral investment cooperation, commerce, tourism and cultural exchanges, and marine cooperation in the SCODA. They are highly compatible with Qingdao’s efforts to build a new important strategic pivot for China’s opening-up in the north of the Yangtze River. They will help Qingdao better integrate into a “dual circulation” pattern in which the domestic economic cycle plays a leading role while the international economic cycle remains its extension and supplement. They can allow Qingdao to effectively play its role in the construction of the “Belt and Road” New Eurasia Land Bridge Economic Corridor and maritime cooperation, strengthen the interconnection between China and other SCO countries, and shape a new phase of all-around two-way opening up with links running eastward and westward over land and sea.
The SCODA will take this concentrated commencement as an opportunity to work against the clock, and go all out. All the implementation processes from signing, commencement, and production will be fully and quickly coordinated to achieve leap-forward development of the SCODA.