Summer Davos Forum focuses global spotlight on Liaoning port city

BEIJING, June 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A report from China Daily:

At the Dalian Port automobile terminal in Dalian Jinpu New Area in Northeast China's Liaoning province, China's 10th State-level new area, vehicles are loaded on the China-Europe freight train bound for Central Asia.

A view of the Dalian International Conference Center and its surrounding buildings in Zhongshan district of Dalian, Liaoning province. [Photo by Gong Xiaojian/for China Daily]

Since the establishment of the Dalian Area of the China (Liaoning) Pilot Free Trade Zone, Dalian Port has become a primary choice for the transportation of commercial vehicles as it enjoys policy advantages of the pilot free trade zone.

In 2023, the zone exported of 60,000 commercial vehicles from Dayaowan Port, representing a 52 percent year-on-year increase. During the same period, container throughput reached 4.93 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), up 12 percent year-on-year. Crude oil throughput amounted to 36.11 million metric tons, an 8.3 percent increase year-on-year.

Liaoning Port Group's Dalian Port engages in trade with more than 160 countries and more than 300 ports across the globe. More than 70 percent of foreign trade cargo transportation and more than 98 percent of the foreign trade container throughput in Northeast China are being handled there.

Located on the southernmost tip of Liaodong Peninsula, Dalian faces the Bohai and Yellow seas. Including islands, it boasts a coastline of 2,211 kilometers, the longest among Chinese cities.

From Tuesday to Thursday, the 15th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as the Summer Davos Forum, is taking place in this beautiful port city.

By hosting the forum, Dalian gains closer insight into the pulse of global economic development, driving the convergence of its world-class resources. The city also integrates its industries into the global industry chain and enhances its international influence.

In the process of constructing a high-level gateway that is open for both domestic and global participants, Dalian is building up high-level openness, local officials said.

The Summer Davos Forum is also a window that propels Dalian's deepening external openness. Leveraging the forum, Dalian showcases its investment environment and advantageous industries to the world, creating a platform for investment attraction and intelligence introduction. Globalized enterprises also have close interaction with Chinese resources and markets during the event.

In March, the 5A-grade international office building Dalian Exchange Square opened in the city's Donggang business district. Invested and developed by the China branch of Orix, a Japanese diversified financial services group, the project leverages the platform of Orix to access global resources.

The project is approximately 1 km from the Dalian International Conference Center, the venue of the Summer Davos Forum. At the 2009 Summer Davos Forum, Orix established a connection with Dalian and then became the first multinational financial group to set up its China headquarters in the city.

Dalian has enacted numerous local regulations supporting foreign investment, and various policy measures have been introduced to expand channels for attracting foreign capital, stabilize the scale of foreign investment, and improve the quality of foreign capital.

By launching Dalian's regulations on the promotion of foreign investment, the city is constructing itself as a bench mark city for a business-friendly environment, in a bid to attract foreign investment while adhering to the principle of consistency between domestic and foreign capital.

Leveraging the advantages of the pilot free trade zone, the city has accumulated innovative experience in promoting, protecting and managing foreign investment.

To date, Dalian has attracted more than 17,000 foreign-invested enterprises, with 124 Fortune 500 companies investing in 288 local projects.

Dalian has deeply engaged with the Summer Davos Forum since the city first hosted it in 2007, bringing the city closer to the world and broadening its international perspective.

The city has integrated a global perspective into its "Six Developments": accelerating construction of a modern industrial system with a developed real economy; serving as a regional center in technology and innovation with national influence; serving as a high-level open hub connecting home and abroad; becoming a modern marine city with coordinated land-sea development; being a model city with a business environment favored by the near and attractive to those from afar; serving as an international coastal tourist destination favorable for living, working and traveling.

The high-quality development of "Two Pioneering Zones" — widely known as the Pioneering Zone with Optimized Industrial Structure and the Pioneering Zone of Economic and Social Development — is also emphasized by local authorities.

Dalian is accelerating the transformation and upgrading of its traditional industries while promoting development of new quality productive forces.

Behind industrial innovation lies technological innovation — and Dalian has implemented a strategy of innovative development.

Currently, Dalian has 115 national-level scientific and technological innovation platforms and 635 platforms at city-level or above. The city is home to nine national key laboratories. In 2023, the Dalian Artificial Intelligence Computing Center was approved as a national new generation AI public computing power innovation platform.

At Yinggeshi Science City in the western area of Dalian High-tech Industrial Zone, high-level laboratories are emerging. The first batch of 238 segmented laboratories or research teams with 1,891 scientific talents will be stationed there.

Upon completion, the area will be developed into an innovation center with international influence, an energy innovation center, a crucial driving force for strategic technology, a hub for high-end innovative elements, and a source center for fostering cutting-edge emerging industries.

Moreover, the city is gearing up efforts to become an international coastal tourist destination for living, working and traveling by polishing its culture and coastal resources.

Recently, the fifth Gangdong Street gained popularity on the internet. The Dalian Party committee and local government launched a series of measures to help tourists better experience the place's charm.

In 2023, Dalian received an 87.84 percent year-on-year increase in tourist arrivals, totaling 157.49 percent of the 2019 level; tourist income increased by 183.13 percent year-on-year, totaling 185.58 percent of the 2019 level.