An island formed from land repossession is "afloat" in the ocean just beyond China's largest northern imports harbor, Tianjin Harbor.

The Dongjiang Bonded Harbor Area, set in Tianjin Harbor, was established in 2002. It has been determined that the area will be built on thirty-three square kilometers of reclaimed land. In August of 2006, China officially authorized ten square kilometers of the establishment to become a bonded harbor area. After the Shanghai Yangshan Bonded Harbor Area, this was to be China's second official bonded harbor area, the largest one to date.

Dongjiang Bonded Harbor Area has more "privileges"

With the State Council's permission, Tianjin's Dongjiang Bonded Harbor Area will enjoy the same preferential policies as Shanghai's Yangshan Bonded Harbor Area. Goods that enter the port will be bonded, and goods that leave the port to enter the mainland for sale will follow the same regulations that are for imports. Goods will also be taxed according to their existing state. Domestic products that enter the bonded area will be treated as exports and have the right to claim a tax rebate and companies in the area, when doing business with each other, do not have to pay increment duties and sales taxes.

Dongjiang Bonded Harbor Area will have more privileges than Yangshan Bonded Harbor Area. For example, it will undergo port managerial experimental reform, explore special customs regulation reform, new finance reforms and innovations, as well as develop offshore businesses.

Land reclamation area already at 13 square kilometers

To date, Dongjiang Bonded Harbor Area's reclaimed area of land has already extended over thirteen square kilometers, and has used over 100 million cubic meters of mud. Machines still continuously "spit out" mud from pipelines onto the shores.

The president of the Tianjin Port (Group) Co. Ltd., Yu Rumin, said that by the end of this year, Dongjiang Bonded Harbor Area will have four square kilometers prepared to conduct one round of closed port operations.

Dongjiang Bonded Harbor Area's single-term project will focus on two areas: container terminals and logistics processing. To date, the container terminals industry, with an investment of 6.5 billion Yuan, is developing smoothly. At the end of this year, six 100,000 ton container terminal berths will go into production. By that time, the logistics processing zone will have already occupied 400,000 square meters of construction, establishing a standardized logistics processing warehouse.

By People's Daily Online