Binzhou, a city in the northern hinterland of the Yellow River Delta, aims for green, low-carbon development.
"Binzhou will strive to be a role model in promoting a low-carbon and environmentally friendly economy in the region," said Deng Xiangyang, Party secretary of Binzhou.
The city has 240 kilometers of coastline and 1,074 square kilometers of beach. It also has abundant natural resources, with 600 million tons of oil reserves and 16.4 billion cubic meters of gas reserves.
In efforts to develop an eco-friendly economy, the city has shut down over 70 high energy-consuming and heavy-polluting plants.
At the same time, a raft of environmentally friendly businesses have been encouraged to settle in the city.
One such project is a wind power equipment plant involving a total investment of 5 billion yuan. Once complete the facility is expected to make an annual pre-tax profit of over 10 billion yuan.
Meanwhile, the country`s major electricity companies, such as Huaneng and Datang, have also built wind power plants in the city, with a combined investment of 2.86 billion yuan.
Another example is the low-carbon industrial park established by Huitai Investment Group Co Ltd. With a total investment of 5 billion yuan, it will be the largest low-carbon industrial park in Shandong province.
Major projects
Between October 2009 and January 2010, over 60 projects, with a total of 15 billion yuan in investments, from domestic and overseas businesses, have settled in Binzhou, according to Zhang Guangfeng, the city`s mayor.
These include a number of eco-friendly agriculture projects to produce grains, cotton, and fruits.
Several renewable energy projects, including bio-fuel, solar lighting, and wind power will also be a feature of Binzhou`s low-carbon economy. The total installed wind power generation capacity in the city is planned to reach 500,000 kilowatts.
The city will also develop a large salt-based chemicals product facility, which will produce 10 million tons of crude salt, 700,000 tons of caustic soda and 20,000 tons of bromine annually.
A reed-to-pulp facility is also under construction. Funded by Jingbo Paper Group and involving a total investment of 200 million yuan, this project will see the development of a 9,338-hectare reed farm and produce an annual pulp output of 100,000 tons.
Zhang predicts that a total of 86,700 hectares of reed farms will be developed on the wetlands in Binzhou by the end of 2015.
There is also an industrial zone being built at Binzhou`s port. The zone will focus on advanced equipment manufacturing, including aircraft and machinery components, and biological engineering and seawater desalination.