OCEAN ECONOMY: A semi-submersible drilling platform is under construction by Yantai CIMC Raffles Offshore Ltd. in Shandong Province. Yantai's shipbuilding and marine machinery manufacturing industry has developed rapidly in recent years (GUO XULEI)

Hi-tech Eco-district

The Chinese Government on June 13 released a plan to build a hi-tech eco-district in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

The hi-tech eco-district is planned to be built across Xi'an and Xianyang, two neighboring cities in Shaanxi, named Xi'an-Xianyang New District.

Covering an area of 882 square km with a population of 893,000, the district will focus on developing strategic emerging industries, environment-friendly and low-carbon industries, high-end manufacturing industries and modern service industries.

The district will be China's fourth state-level new district, after Pudong New Area in Shanghai Municipality, Binhai New Area in Tianjin Municipality and Liangjiang New Area in Chongqing Municipality.

Gas Transmission

Chinese workers have finished construction for the major line of China's second west-east natural gas transmission pipeline, China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), the project's contractor, announced on June 13.

Repeated tests on the main line of the gas transmission project will be conducted before it is put into service from late June, said a CNPC spokesman.

By then, the pipeline project will carry natural gas from Turkmenistan and northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to the Yangtze River and Pearl River deltas, the country's two economically developed regions.

With a budget of 142.2 billion yuan ($21.88 billion), the second west-east pipeline project has the capacity to transmit 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually with a minimum lifespan of 30 years, which can benefit 400 million people in China.

Wind Tech Center

Asia's first third-party wind energy technology center began operating on June 13 in north China's Tianjin, which specializes in testing fan blades.

The wind energy technology center belongs to the SGS-CSTC Standards Technical services Co. Ltd., a joint venture of China Standard Technology Development Corp. and Swiss-based SGS Group. It is located in Tianjin Binhai New Area, home to about 30 domestic and international wind energy manufacturers.

The wind energy technology center covers an area of about 10,000 square meters with a total investment of 70 million yuan ($10.8 million).

Harbin Fair

The Harbin International Fair for Trade and Economic Cooperation was kicked off on June 15 in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province bordering Russia.

The fair attracted more than 110,000 traders and attendees from about 80 countries and regions.

There were 3,000 exhibition booths at the fair, including sections for green food, traditional Chinese medicine, furniture, tourism. Since its debut in 1990, the annual event has attracted 1.6 million company representatives and officials and led to deals valued at up to $100 billion.

The fair is also a major platform for economic and trade exchanges between Chinese and Russian merchants.