Daqiuzhuang, one of China's largest steel production centers in the southwestern suburbs of Tianjin, plans to inject 1 billion yuan ($147.5 million) to build a Sino-German ecological town.
"The town will target steel production using Germany's ecological production approaches," said Mao Yingzhu, deputy Party secretary of Daqiuzhuang.
The new town will cover 4.7 square kilometers, with a first phase of 2 sq km, and Daqiuzhuang is now in close contact with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.
Industrial upgrading and excessive production capacity reduction are top priorities for Daqiuzhuang, which was touted as a miracle of economic growth in the 1980s and was a household name in China.
It evolved from a small farming town into a steel production center in the 1980s, but saw a change in fortune in the 1990s and early 2000s, due to illegal business development and government corruption.
In the early 2000s, many State-owned steel companies were closed due to sluggish growth but private businesses took shape.
During the period, the town lost its crown to Tangshan, in North China's Hebei province, which is now firmly established as the country's No 1 steel production center.
In recent years, Daqiuzhuang's steel industry has sustained a production volume of 40-50 million metric tons, generating a combined revenue of about 60 billion yuan annually.
In 2019, the town is expected to see 10 percent GDP growth, he said.
Currently the town has some 600 steel companies, many of which are thirsty for industrial upgrade, Mao said.
"We have high hopes the new German town will drive Daqiuzhuang's industrial development," he said.
Insiders said that some German companies are interested in beefing up their investments and making a presence in the town, due to its proximity to Xiongan New Area, an emerging new area in Hebei about 100 kilometers southwest of Beijing, which will implement the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei integration plan and coordinated development strategy.
Mao said that Daqiuzhuang is only 80 kilometers from Xiongan, even closer than Tangshan.
"The new area's demand for steel, in particular green prefabricated construction materials, is now Daqiuzhuang companies' top economic growth area," said Gao Shucheng, president of Tianjin Yuantaiderun Pipe Manufacturing Group, a steel production company in the town.
Gao said, in recent decades, he had seen a number of companies go bankrupt in the town and he expected Xiongan and close cooperation with German counterparts to offer new opportunities.
German authorities have not yet commented on the new township plan.
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