ApanoramicviewoftheportinCaofeidianinTangshan,northChina鈥檚HebeiProvinceCOURTESYPHOTOAround200kmawayfromBeijing,Caofeidianusedtobeasandyisland8kmlongandlessthan600meterswide.In2003,ahighwaythatwouldrunthroughtheislandintheBohaiSeabeganconstruction.Followingitscompletion,ablowinglandreclamationprojectwasbegun,creatinga210-square-kmpieceofartificialislandfromtheseaarea.ThesiteiswhereShougangJingtangIron&SteelCo.Ltd.sits,makingittheveryfirstironandsteelcompanywithanannualoutputofover1milliontonslocatedbyaport.
Moreimportantly,ShougangJingtang,establishedinOctober2005asasubsidiaryoftheShougangGroup,isessentialintheBeijing-headquarteredsteelmaker鈥檚greentransformationefforts.
Bornin1919,state-ownedShougangwasoneofthemostimportantcontributorstotheincreaseofBeijing鈥檚industrialcapacity.However,afterthecity鈥檚successfulbidforhostingthe2008SummerOlympicsin2001,itspollutionissueattractedalotofattention,andthesteelgiantfacedunprecedentedpressure,despiteitspasteffortsinenvironmentalprotection.
Shougangstartedlookingacrossthecountryforanotherbaselocationtosolvetheproblem.Subsequently,thewinnerwasCaofeidian,aneconomicdevelopmentzoneintheeponymousdistrictofTangshaninBeijing鈥檚neighboringHebeiProvince.Aftercarefulplanning,ShougangbegantherelocationofitssteelmakingcapacityinFebruary2005,whichwasapprovedbytheNationalDevelopmentandReformCommission.Eightmonthslater,ShougangJingtangwasinaugurated.In2010,thenewcompanycompleteditsfirstphaseofconstructionandbeganoperations.
鈥淪incetherelocation,wehavefullytappedintoadvantagesatthenewbaseandhavestriventoupgradeourtechnologyandpursuecyclicdevelopment,鈥漵aidRenQuanxuan,deputyheadofShougangJingtang鈥檚CultureDepartment.
Forgingahead
InfrontofCaofeidianIslandthere鈥檚anicefreedeeppool鈥攖hedeepestpointoftheBohaiBay鈥攚ithamaximumdepthof36meters.Moreover,there鈥檚anaturalwater-coursewithamaximumwaterdepthof27metersconnectingtotheYellowSeathatallows250,000tonnerstotravelthroughtheBohaiGulf.
AccordingtoRen,withsuchafavorablelocation,ShougangJingtangmanagestoimportrawmaterialsandexportitsendproductsthroughtheport.鈥淲ehaveraisedourmarketcompetitivenesssinceourtransportationcostdecreasedtoagreatextent,鈥漢etoldBeijingReview.
Sincetherelocation,thesteelmakerhasfocusedonupgradingthevarietyandqualityofitsproducts,withmorehighvalue-addedandhi-techproductsdeveloped.Lastyear,thecompany鈥檚outputofhigh-endironandsteelsheetsandplatesexceeded3milliontons.Currentlyitholdsthelargestdomesticmarketshareinwheelsteelandhomeapplianceplates.Evenduringadepressionoftheironandsteelindustryin2015,thecompanymanagedtorunwithoutaloss,accordingtoRen.
Withsuchatransformation,thecompanyhasbeenmakingsteadyprogress,whichnotonlyshowsinproductivity,butalsoinenvi-ronmentalprotection.Seawaterdesalinationisoneofthemajorpartsofitscyclicdevelopmentmodel.Withfourdesalinationplants鈥攖woofwhichwereindependentlydevelopedbythecompany鈥攁totalof50,000tonsoffreshwatercanbegenerated.Basedonthecompany鈥檚statistics,around19.93milliontonsofsurfacewatercanbeconservedeveryyear.
Wasteresidue,waterandgasarerecycledtoagreatextent.Strongbrineleftfromthedesalinationisofferedtoaneighboringchemicalenterprise.Slagsarefinelygroundedandusedforcementproduction.Exhaustgasistreatedasamaterialforpowergeneration.Intotal,7.6billionyuan($1.12billion)wasinvestedinenvironmentalprotectionduringthefirstphaseofconstruction,accountingfor11.21percentoftheentireprojectinvestment.
鈥淲earenotjustmovingourfactories,butalsoourcultureandconcepts,withgreatimportanceplacedonecologicaldesign.It鈥檚likedrawingonawhitepaper.Wewanttostartfromahighstandard,鈥漅ensaid.
TherelocationofthesteelmakerisalsoanimportantpartofamajornationalstrategyfirstputforwardbyPresidentXiJinpinginFebruary2014,whichcallsforthesynergeticdevelopmentoftheBeijing-Tianjin-HebeiregionandthecoordinationandintegrationoftheeconomiczonessurroundingBeijing.Lastyear,Caofeidiansigned99projectswithBeijingandTianjinenterpriseswithatotalinvestmentofover130billionyuan($19billion).
InJuly,BeijingunveiledanactionplanforBeijing-Tianjin-Hebeicoordinateddevelopmentbetween2018and2020,whichsaidthatthecitywillstrengthencooperationwithTianjinandHebeitopromoteoveralltransformationandupgradingofregionalindustries.ItalsoincludedaprogramtohelpacceleratetheconstructionofprojectssuchasthesecondphaseofShougangJingtanginCaofeidian.
Thedoortoprogress
ShougangJingtangisnottheonlyonethattooktheopportunityofrelocationtoenhanceitself.BeijingTohoSteeldoorsIndustryCo.Ltd.,aChina-Germanyjointventure,alsothrivedasagreenbuildingmaterialpioneerafteritmovedtoCaofeidian.
Withdoorandwindowproductionasitsmainbusiness,thecompanyhasleftitsmarkonmanymajorbuildingsacrossthecountrysuchastheNationalIndoorStadium,theNationalConventionCenterandtheNationalSwimmingCenterinBeijingandtheShanghaiWorldExpoExhibitionandConventionCenter.
HuoYujia,generalmanagerofthecompany,saidthatdramaticchangeshavetakenplacesinceitsrelocationin2016.SimilartoShougangJingtang,theupgradeinproductionisoneoftheevidentbenefits.Despiteadvancedequipment,asmallfactoryareaandrisingrentinBeijingmadeitdifficultforthecompanytoincreaseinputinresearchanddevelopment.Nowthatitsplantareahasexpandedfrom4,000squaremetersinBeijingto18,000squaremetersinCaofeidian,morespaceisavailablefortechnologicalinnovation.
鈥淏ackthenourgoalwastosurvive,butnowhereinCaofeidianwehaveleftthoseworriesbehindandareconcentratingonhowtomakeprogressandthrive,鈥滺uosaid.Oneofthemajorbreakthroughsthecom-panyhasmadeisthedevelopmentofanewtypeofenergy-efficientsecuritydoor,whichhashelpedthecompanyrestructuretowardhigh-endproducts.HuotoldBeijingReviewthatinthepast,toachievea10-million-yuan($1.47billion)annualoutputvalue,thecompanyneededtoproduce8,000doors,whilenowwithitshi-techinvention,thenumberdecreasedto600.
鈥淢ovingtoCaofeidianwastherightchoice,鈥滺uosaid.Inaddition,thelocalgovernmentprovidedservicesandsupporttomaketherelocationprocessassmoothaspossible,especiallyintermsofsimplifyingadministrativeprocedures.Fromthesigningofthemove-incontracttothestartofoperations,itonlytookunder100days.Moreover,withthehelpofCaofeidianauthorities,thecompanygotaspecialfundfortechnologicalinnovation.
Inthecomingfourtofiveyears,thecompanywilltrytobuilditselfintoChina鈥檚leadinglistedcompanyfocusingonhi-techandgreensecuritybuildingproducts.Itisalsoworkingonexportingitscommoditiestotherestoftheworld.
AseawaterdesalinationfacilityatShougangJingtangIron&SteelCo.Ltd.COURTESYPHOTOCopyeditedbyRebecaToledoCommentsto