Ningbo, Zhejiang is one of the earliest important cities in Chinese history to open to the outside world. Looking at the history of Ningbo, in fact, Ningbo has become one of the starting points of the Maritime Silk Road as early as the Tang Dynasty. Together with Yangzhou and Guangzhou, it is known as China's three major foreign trade ports; after the Opium War, Ningbo was also designated as " "Five Ports for Trade" port; in 1984, it was listed as one of the first 14 coastal open cities.
In recent years, Ningbo has continued to expand the "depth" and "breadth" of opening up, and has played amazing "opening cards" one after another. On August 7, Zhang Yan, Party Secretary and Director of the Ningbo Municipal Commerce Bureau, said at a press conference held in Ningbo to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China: "In the past 70 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, Ningbo has worked hard to promote reform and development through opening up. With this strategy, we have achieved a magnificent transformation from a small commercial port city to a famous international port city."
In 1949, in the early days of the founding of New China, Ningbo, as a small commercial city, had a small built-up area of only 18.3 square kilometers and a regional GDP of only 220 million yuan. After 70 years of construction, Ningbo has emerged as a modern international port city, with a built-up area of 345.5 square kilometers. In 2018, the regional GDP jumped by 1,074.6 billion yuan, making it the 15th city in China with a GDP exceeding one trillion yuan.
"Selling to the world, buying to the world", in Ningbo, the foreign trade industry serves as the pathfinder for comprehensive internationalization.
"Starting from scratch, Ningbo's foreign trade development has drawn a beautiful skyline." Zhang Yan said that in 1988, Ningbo began to have self-operated import and export rights, and its foreign trade exceeded 100 million U.S. dollars for the first time. In 1993, it exceeded 1 billion U.S. dollars. The annual foreign trade exceeded 10 billion U.S. dollars, and the foreign trade exceeded 100 billion U.S. dollars in 2013, becoming the first city in Zhejiang Province and the 8th city in China to have a total foreign trade volume exceeding 100 billion U.S. dollars.
According to statistics, Ningbo's total foreign trade volume exceeded 130 billion US dollars in 2018, and its import and export scale exceeded that of Tianjin, establishing its status as China's largest foreign trade phalanx.
Since the reform and opening up, Ningbo has relentlessly promoted the introduction of foreign capital, technology, talents, standards, and services, and provided strong services to support the city's internationalization and economic and social development. In 1992, with the help of the overseas "Ningbo Gang", actual foreign investment in Ningbo exceeded US$100 million for the first time.
On the long coastline of Ningbo Zhoushan Port, truck trucks shuttle back and forth, gantry cranes rise and fall, and it is full of life.
Zhang Yan said that in recent years, Ningbo has been committed to the construction of open channels for the "land, sea and air network", and its radiating ability of opening up to the outside world has been continuously enhanced. "Through the accelerated construction of channel hubs, Ningbo's opening radiating ability has been continuously enhanced."
Take Ningbo Zhoushan Port as an example. At present, the port has opened routes with more than 600 ports in 216 countries and regions in the world. Its cargo throughput has ranked first in the world for ten consecutive years. Its container throughput ranks third in the world and third in China.
In addition, Ningbo Zhoushan Port has also carried out international cooperation with nearly 30 ports around the world and established 16 hinterland "dry ports" in China.
Zhang Yan said that looking back on the process of Ningbo's opening up to the outside world, it can be said to be a history of growth that writes "Ningbo's journey into the world", a history of precipitation that condenses "open character", and a history of struggle to practice "innovation and entrepreneurship".
Looking at the current situation, Ningbo is fully implementing the "80 points" to optimize the business environment, taking the "maximum one visit" reform as a guide to deepen reform and innovation in the field of opening up to the outside world. Focusing on the future, Ningbo will promote the construction of a service-oriented government and create a legal, international and convenient business environment.
