Redeveloping inefficient areas is key to a city's upgrading construction, local officials said.
The area surrounding the Qingdao North Railway Station is designated as one of the inefficient areas to be redeveloped. But there are tough nuts such as financing, relocation, and industry attraction to crack, said Jia Chunmei, deputy head of the urban construction and management bureau of Licang district.
Spanning 1.9 square kilometers, the area used to be occupied by a State-owned cotton enterprise. It was home to nearly 7,000 households and more than 10 plants.
"The area has been vacant for more than 10 years after the businesses shut down and the residents relocated," Jia said.
However, recent news that confirms the relocation of Cangkou Airport has helped the area implement its development plan, according to Jia.
Licang district has established a center for attracting and promoting businesses, Jia said.
"The center has been operating for one month, communicated with more than 300 businesses and signed more than 30 projects," the official said.
The north part of the railway station is positioned to be a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship in Qingdao. It will have centers for international conferences, railway transit, youth residential compounds, cultural landmarks and a headquarters. Altogether it is expected to attract some 2,000 businesses, create nearly 70,000 jobs and provide living spaces for 30,000 individuals, according to Zhang Zhongqian, deputy head of Licang district.
Another area labeled inefficient is the Wangtai old industrial zone in Qingdao's West Coast New Area.
"The area is the famous hub for textile machinery manufacturing and is the largest production base for shuttleless and water jet looms," said Zhu Changjiang, Party secretary of Wangtai Street.
"A great number of traditional plants and workshops is a major factor in the low production rate of the area," Zhu said.
Last October, a large mobile display module factory with an investment of 8.17 billion yuan ($1.21 billion) by BOE Technology Group opened there.
The factory helped create 14,000 jobs and its annual production capacity is estimated to reach 150 million medium and small-sized display modules. The facility has attracted more than 20 supporting businesses, each with an annual revenue of 20 million yuan or more.
To support the creation of the factory, the Wangtai authority removed more than 1.3 million square meters of buildings and vacated more than 133 hectares of land.
This helped the area shift from being a manufacturing base to a new town for the chip industry, Zhu said.
"Although there were temporary disadvantages during the removal work, we should take this opportunity to promote the upgrading of the textile manufacturing industry and establish a specific zone for professional companies to guide the upgrading of businesses," Zhu added.
Over the next three years, the Qingdao city government will target 10 inefficient areas and build 314 projects－with an investment of 343.8 billion yuan－to revitalize them. Of them, a total of 228 are set to be completed this year.
The architectural style is a special hallmark of Qingdao. CHINA DAILY
