Introducción

Source – Tianjin Statistical Yearbook

The economy of Tianjin is based on port-related manufacturing. Tianjin remains a manufacturing economy, and has not developed as a post-industrial city in the way Beijing and Shanghai have, for example. However, there has been a shift within manufacturing, away from traditional towards new industries. Currently the pillar manufacturing industries for Tianjin are aviation, specialised equipment, electronics, automobiles, bio-pharmaceuticals, new material, and national-defence-re- lated equipment. For example, Tianjin has emerged as the world’s third-largest aviation manufac- turing hub.

A significant feature of the development of Tianjin has been its attractiveness to foreign invest- ment, with nearly 290 of the Fortune 500 companies investing in the city. Foreign investment is supported by high-level infrastructure, especially in the Binhai New Area (which now accounts for around 55% of Tianjin’s total GDP), and by a package of benefits including tax incentives.

Manufacturing 45% Trade 12% Finance 9% Transport 5% Construction 4% Business services 4% Scientific research 4% Other 17% CHINA

GOVERNANCE

The urban governance structure for China is explained on the coversheet.it should be noted that Tianjin is one of the five city administrations in China with the status of a Provincial Government, reporting directly to National Government within the governmental hierarchy. As with other mu- nicipalities Tianjin is divided into various county-level, township and sub-district areas.

A particular issue is the governance of the Binhai New Area. A special governance structure has been set up which allows for flexibility in decision-making in a special industrial zone which at- tracts foreign and domestic capital. However, issues of governmental fragmentation do arise, re- quiring new forms of collaboration between agencies. On a broader scale, the designation of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei City-Region may also result in the evolution of governance structures, with cooperation agreements between cities already signed.

DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES

Tianjin is a city that has experienced massive economic growth and newfound prosperity since at least the early 1990s. Even during this period of slowdown in the global and national economies, Tianjin continues to grow at enviable speed. Growth has brought challenges, however.

The levels of air pollution are a little lower than those of Beijing, assisted by the coastal winds, but at an Annual Mean PM10 of 101ug/m3 they are still among the worst in the world. There is also serious congestion in the city’s transport network following an exponential growth in private car ownership. With rapid development, land-use planning has been poorly coordinated, and there are severe inefficiencies in the use of land.

With the development largely driven by the manufacturing industry, service industries have lagged behind, with negative consequences for quality of life and social access within the urban agglomer- ation. Also, inadequate attention has been given to human safety, as illustrated for example by the massive industrial explosion in 2015.

THEMATIC REPORTS

TRANSPORT

ECONOMIC INFRASTRUCTURE

According to the World Shipping Council (2014), Tianjin was the world’s tenth-largest container port in 2014. It was the seventh-largest in China (and in the BRICS) after Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Ningbo, Qingdao and Guangzhou. Tianjin was slightly larger than Rotterdam, which is Eu- rope’s largest port. The Tianjin-Binhai International Airport is modestly sized, ranked 20th in China in terms of passengers; but there is a strategic cooperation agreement between Tianjin Port (Group) Co and Tianjin Binhai International Airport to create a combined seaport-airport transport hub. Tianjin is also strategically placed within the expressway and highway network of China, and is connected to Beijing with fast rail. There are three ring roads around Tianjin, but these are affected by extreme traffic congestion.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Tianjin faces the same challenges as Beijing in terms of exponential growth in privately-owned ve- hicles, with levels of congestion rated as being slightly worse even than those of Beijing. The Global Congestion Index ranks Tianjin as the second-most road-congested city in China after Chongqing, and the 18th in the world.

Updated information on modal share is not available. However, sources suggest that Tianjin retains

a very high share of cycling relative to most other cities in China with the use of private vehicles generally lower. In terms of public transport, bus dominates (with 85% of trips) followed by rail (14%) and other minor forms (>1%).

A significant feature of Tianjin’s profile is the continued significance of cycling. Together with walk- ing, non-motorised transport accounted for 56.4% of all trips in 2009. Although the proportion of trips by private vehicle may seem low, the sheer size of the population, with nearly three million vehicles, accounts for the high levels of road congestion. In terms of public transport, bus is over- whelmingly dominant, although there is an established metro system.

BUS

Bus services along over 900 lines are operated by the state-owned Tianjin Public Transport Group, which also runs taxi services and other transport-related business. There are innovations in bus transport with the introduction of a BRT system, and ambitious plans for constructing elevated expressways for buses. Tianjin Municipality is transitioning its fleet to pure electric buses, thereby creating a manufacturing opportunity for the construction of these buses in the Wuqing Auto Industrial Park.

METRO

The Tianjin Metro is the second in China, having been opened in 1984. However, the system is still relatively underdeveloped with a daily ridership of around 700 000, or less than 10% of that of Bei- jing, a city almost twice the size of Tianjin. The metro has three operational lines, but an additional two are under construction, and nine more are planned. The track is currently 132km long. The metro is jointly operated by the Tianjin Metro Group Company and the Binhai Mass Transit Devel- opment Company, companies part-owned by the Tianjin Municipal Government.

Historically, there was a tramway in Tianjin, which was built by the Belgians and began operating in 1906. The system was closed in 1972. In 2007, however, trams were re-introduced, with the opening of the TEDA Modern Guided Rail Tram as part of the larger metro system. This tramway is in addi- tion to a light railway which runs between downtown Tianjin and the TEDA precinct within Binhai New Area.

FUTURE PLANS

Tianjin Municipality is continuing to invest heavily in both private and public transport networks. In terms of public transport the focus is on the expansion of the metro system to around 375km by 2020. While rail is intended as the backbone, the BRT system will be an important complementary network, with 194km of road reserved for buses by 2020. The Municipality also plans to develop an extensive system for non-motorised transport (also referred to as ‘slow transport’), building on the continued significance of cycling and walking in the city. In addition, there is strong emphasis on improving efficiencies in managing transportation.

A further key strategy is regional integration. The Tianjin Binhai High-Speed Rail station is located in Binhai, and serves as a major point of interchange between local, regional and national rail, bus and taxi services. By 2017, Public Transportation Cards for the region, which includes the cities of Beijing, Tianjin, Langfang, Zhangjiakou, Baoding, and Shijiazhuang, are expected to be fully inte- grated. There are also plans to connect the BRT systems of Beijing and Tianjin.

GREEN ENERGY

The national profile for green energy is provided in the Beijing Factsheet.

Tianjin has a similar energy history to Beijing, with reliance on coal-fired power stations within the municipal area. Like Beijing, the Tianjin Electric Power Company is closing its five coal-fired power stations, replacing them with gas-fired ones to cut pollution. In 2011, Tianjin’s No. 1 Thermal Power CHINA

Plant, which was opened in 1932, was closed down, with the second-largest power station also now closed. In 2013 a plan was adopted with the target of reducing PM 2.5 pollution levels by 25% by 2017, achievable mainly by the reduction of coal consumption.

Tianjin is an active participant in the plan to create a ‘Global Energy Internet’, which was proposed initially by China’s State Grid Corporation. The initiative will begin with the construction of a mas- sive electricity transmission network in China that will allow for the sharing of renewable energy, to be followed by a global linkage of grids (at an estimated cost of $50 trillion of investment by 2050). In 2016 Tianjin issued a White Paper on the ‘Development of the City’s Energy Internet’, indicating how electricity-sharing could happen within the city, as an initial contribution to the wider scheme. The city is aiming to become a leader in energy network construction, operation and management. As with Beijing, the focus for Tianjin has been on the transition to gas rather than on the devel- opment of renewables. However, an important demonstration initiative is the development of the Tianjin Eco-City as a partnership with the Government of Singapore. It is to be completed by 2020 and will house around 350 000 people. Tianjin Eco-City will be required to source at least 20% of its energy from renewable sources, and will also emphasise energy efficiency through its building systems, cooling and heating systems, and eco-mobility networks.

INNOVATION-DRIVEN ECONOMY

Tianjin is not as well-positioned as Beijing for supporting innovation, ranking only 238th globally in the 2thinknow Innovation Cities Global Index 2015, which is only middle ranking for the BRICS. Tianjin does however have some significant advantages, including a strong network of educational and research institutes. There are for example two universities equally ranked in the QS BRICS Top 50 for 2016 – Nankai University (30st) and Tianjin University (30th).

Tianjin’s expenditure on R&D as a proportion of GDP was 3% in 2015, which was significantly less than Beijing’s 6%, although higher than the national 2%. However, there are indications of dyna- mism in the innovation sector, with the Statistical Yearbook indicating a 26% annual increase in IP applications for 2015. Also, a far higher proportion of R&D expenditure is from private enterprise than is the case in Beijing. There is also apparently more energy than the average among small- to medium-sized firms, which spend around 5.4% of their income on R&D and account for 44% of patent applications.

The innovation focus in Tianjin, understandably, is on technology in manufacturing. Innovative en- terprise is clustered around TEDA and the Binhai New Area, in numerous specialised industrial parks and development zones. Clusters of innovation are developing around industries such as electronic component manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and green energy.

The Municipality of Tianjin actively supports innovation in industry through reforms to its regulatory mechanisms, procurement policies and financial services. In 2016, Tianjin released its new policy on city innovation, responding to a new national policy. A particular feature of the approach in Tianjin is the focus on developing technology in small- and medium-scale enterprise – the so-called ‘little giants in S&T’. The municipality is working with enterprise to upgrade equipment and technolo- gy, improve business operations, and optimise industrial structure. It is focusing on the potential winners, while pushing for the closure of low-efficiency, low-competitive and high-polluting firms. A major new development is the innovation reform trials proposed for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei city-region. This region has been designated as an innovation demonstration zone for China, with a regional innovation system to be developed through collaboration between the municipal and provincial governments, and other state agencies.

YANGTZE RIVER DELTA