TOC Asia 2011

Start Date: 15th Mar 2011
End Date: 17th Mar 2011
Duration: 3 days
Venue Name: Tianjin
Event Website Address:www.tocevents-asia.com

TOC Asia 2011, is your opportunity to understand what will be the fastest growing most dynamic port sector in the world for the next ten years.

The Tianjin-Beijing Bohai triangle accounts for around 9% of national GDP, with per capita incomes well above the national average. The primary driving force behind economic development in the area has been due to the twin poles of the two cities: Beijing, the seat of political authority, and Tianjin, the capital’s gateway to the sea and hence the wider world.

In recent years the government has worked hard to promote the region with aggressive spending on infrastructure in an attempt to draw investment from the Yangtze and Pearl River Deltas. As part of this strategy, Beijing has earmarked the Bohai Bay as a cornerstone and strategic component of the 11th Five Year Plan, to improve logistics access to the region drawing foreign direct investment. And, looking at how the region is currently faring, it may have worked better than intended.

The third largest city in China and the industrial capital of the northeast, Tianjin, located 120 km southwest of Beijing, is linked to the capital by high-speed train at a maximum speed of 350 km per hour. The introduction of the service has effectively put the city in the commuter belt of the capital, and vice versa, greatly enhancing economic integration between the two.

As a result, Tianjin has managed to attract many high-value, high-tech processing industries to its Free Trade Zone; companies including Delixi, and other enterprises from Zhejiang, as well as Kingway and ZTE from Shenzhen.

More competitive in cost terms than other major economic hubs in China, Tianjin has pools of cheap labour and excellent supporting infrastructure to service industries that are increasingly choosing to locate there. In addition, ambitious expansion projects are already underway at Tianjin port, as well as Dalian and other ports in the region, with the long-term aim of developing a Northeast Shipping Centre to rival the Shanghai Shipping Centre within a decade.

Given the region’s proximity to Beijing, and the national level commitment to develop the region, the Bohai Bay region is rapidly developing into a port cluster to rival both the Pearl and Yangtze River Deltas. Given the relative levels of development in the region, Tianjin and the Bohai Bay represent the primary opportunities for investment in the port sector over the next decade.