A crude oil tanker at Zhanjiang Port. As a key port city in South China, Zhanjiang is embracing a rapidly emerging ocean economy driven by maritime industries, port logistics and sea-related tourism. [Photo/China Daily]

Maritime Valley

The industrial clusters centered on the steel, petrochemical and papermaking industries that serve as the backbone of the city's economy are being established, now the local government is exploring ways to promote a closer alliance between technology and other industries to facilitate the city's development, Wang said.

One development strategy that is being put into practice centers on the acceleration of local and regional industrial transformation surrounding the Zhanjiang Bay area.

The Southern Maritime Valley will house a technology park, incubator and R&D zones and will be a cluster of high-level talents, technology and resources.

"It will be a realization of our vision for the future and means the city will be embarking on its journey of innovation," Wang said during a panel discussion earlier this month, in which entrepreneurial participants from South China's Guangdong commerce federation expressed their interest in investing in the city.

Industries such as maritime equipment, cold-chain logistics, information consumption, and biopharmaceutical are to be given priority.

"It will focus on the relations between the ocean and technology, and harness cooperation between technology, talent, industries and the city's excellent institutions of higher learning," said Wang.

Innovation partnerships

A number of industries in Zhanjiang have reached international levels, but technology, innovation, talent and the city itself have yet to catch up. The local government wants to boost the city's innovation capacity and technological contributions to economic growth by harnessing the research capabilities of the city's institutions of higher learning.

Among them, Lingnan Normal University, Guangdong Ocean University and the Zhanjiang campus of Guangdong Medical College all have strong research teams and valuable technological resources, and the local government wants them to help advance the emergence of Zhanjiang.

"Innovation is dependent on technology, education and talent, as well as support from institutions of higher learning. It is a prime time to deepen cooperation with these institutions," said Wang.

Creating a comprehensive intelligent manufacturing base is one of the technology goals for Zhanjiang in the near future.

In the next five years, the city's level of industrial development will be accelerated with the increasingly wider application of intelligent equipment and industrial robots, Wang said.

The goal of the city is to realize 2 billion yuan ($322.18 million) from the output of its intelligent equipment industry by the end of the year.

"The aim is to make Zhanjiang the most competitive and influential city in this particular industry in Guangdong province," said Wang.

The government also wants innovation to make the ocean economy a bigger contributor to local development.