New urban area acts as bridge between Taiyuan and Xinzhou

An artist’s rendering of Taiyuan-Xinzhou Integrated Economic Zone. Li Shu / For China Daily

　　
A new urban area is emerging in central Shanxi province, thanks to the implementation of the Taiyuan-Xinzhou integration program. The new area, Daiyu New Industrial City, has risen in Yangqu county in the north of Taiyuan.

Construction of the new area started in March. After about 120 days, a number of infrastructure projects — including 11 roads at a total length of 28 kilometers and the Taiyuan Science and Technology Innovation Center — were completed.

About 38 km to the urban center of Taiyuan and 30 km to downtown Xinzhou, Daiyu new city is regarded as an important link between Taiyuan and Xinzhou.

The integration program of Taiyuan and Xinzhou was launched in 2021 by the provincial government, according to the central government's requirements.

In March 2021, the State Council released a guideline for the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), requiring Shanxi to foster a city cluster in its central region. Grasping the opportunity, the Shanxi provincial government proposed the development of Taiyuan-Xinzhou Integrated Economic Zone in the months that followed.

The zone officially opened on Dec 29, marked by the establishment of the Promotional Center for the Development of Taiyuan-Xinzhou Integrated Economic Zone. The zone is composed of two sections in Taiyuan and Xinzhou respectively.

In less than a year, the fledgling development zone has reported impressive achievements, with the most recent being Daiyu.

Since the beginning of this year, the integrated zone has launched or planned a total of 682 key projects, with funding totaling 972.6 billion yuan ($137.43 billion). The budget for this year is 175.6 billion yuan.

During the first eight months, a total of 15.99 billion yuan had been invested in the construction of key infrastructure projects, according to officials of the integrated zone.

With a host of facilities in place, a great number of businesses from the rest of the country and the world have decided to open their operations in the zone.

Statistics show the Taiyuan section of the integrated zone has secured investment projects with funding totaling 64.6 billion yuan to date. Meanwhile, the combined investment of projects to settle in the Xinzhou section has reached 32.2 billion yuan.

One major project established in the zone is the TI Holding Smart Valley, a science park founded by renowned Chinese science park developer TI Holding.

Xiang Xinjiang, general manager of the project, said TI Holding aims for the smart valley to become a landmark high-tech establishment in the integrated zone, setting an example for Shanxi's high-tech and green transformation.

The first phase of the smart valley is a life science park, which is under construction. It is scheduled to attract more than 10 leading domestic companies and establish about 200 incubators.

The smart valley is just one example of the integrated zone's ambition to build itself into a high-tech engine in Shanxi province.

For this purpose, the zone's authorities are in talks with research entities, including the famed Chinese Academy of Sciences, to launch innovation platforms, laboratories, and research and development facilities, as well as industrial venture capital funds in the zone.

By Yuan Shenggao
Cao Tingting contributed to this story.