Dalian's Extraordinary Decade: Striving Ahead to Build a New Frontier for Opening up

Passenger ships from Dalian ODC Marine Manufacture Co., Ltd. earn a reputation for Dalian products in Europe.

Dalian was born for the sake of opening-up and has thrived thanks to opening-up. Opening-up and cooperation lay at the core of the city. In the past ten years, Dalian has bravely shouldered the responsibility of opening-up and spared no effort in establishing a new frontier in this respect, optimizing, expanding, and continuously strengthening it.

In March 2022, Richard J Kramer, Chairman and President of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, presented a letter to Hu Yuting, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Liaoning Provincial Committee and Secretary of the CPC Dalian Municipal Committee, to express his gratitude to the CPC Dalian Municipal Committee and Dalian Government for supporting the work and resumption of production in Goodyear's factory in Pulandian District when it was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In his letter, Kramer wrote that "The support proves that Dalian is brave enough to pursue its goals and see its development through. The business environment in Dalian is good. I have great regard for what the city has done."

Dalian has continued to improve its business environment, showcasing its strengths by opening up as the city makes breakthroughs in attracting foreign investment. In the past ten years, nearly 3,000 new foreign-funded enterprises have been set up and 123 Fortune Global 500 enterprises introduced in Dalian. The city has utilized a total of USD 11,927 million of foreign investment, with an average annual increase of 9.2 percent. The growth rate of actual utilization of foreign investment in 2021 ranked first among domestic cities at the same level and the growth rate is expected to exceed a record high of USD 2 billion in 2022.

Major projects in Dalian have improved the quality and efficiency of industrial cooperation, showcasing its strengths by opening up and turning them into driving forces. Nidec Industrial Park helps the new energy vehicle industry chain in Dalian develop into a high-end cluster. ORIX's China head office has gathered together foreign-funded projects, trade, and modern service industries to promote internationalization in Dalian. Semiconductor projects carried out by Intel have facilitated the integrated circuit industry to develop in clusters and have also significantly contributed to the localization of the integrated circuit industry in China. At the end of 2021, SK Hynix received conditional approval from the government to acquire part of Intel's business and build a new factory, which will make a significant contribution to the development of Dalian's IC industry when it reaches the design capacity. Leading hydrogen energy enterprises from Japan and the Republic of Korea such as Toyota Motor Corporation, Mitsui & Co., Ltd., Itochu Corporation, Hyundai Motor Company, and Doosan Group, have actively participated in the investment and development of hydrogen energy demonstration projects in Dalian, serving as a vital impetus for the development of a strategic emerging industry cluster in the city.

In June, 540 parallel imported cars, with a total value of more than CNY 73 million, went through customs clearance without delay under the supervision of the Customs in Dayaowan Port, marking the first group of its kind imported through Dalian in 2022. To stabilize and improve the quality of foreign trade and ensure smooth logistics for parallel imported cars, Customs has brought in various innovative control measures such as "one-stop inspection of parallel imported cars" and an "information platform for imported vehicles". Thanks to the new measures, clearance time has been shortened by roughly 50 percent.

A pilot project for parallel imported cars and a cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zone has been approved in Dalian, accelerating the development of new forms of business in foreign trade and ushering in a new stage in Dalian. In the past ten years, total import and export volumes in the city have accounted for 60 percent of the entire province and 40 percent of Northeast China's three provinces. Dalian's export markets cover more than 200 countries and regions. Foreign trade is playing an increasingly important role in Dalian's economy, with the number of enterprises specializing in foreign trade growing from 15,000 to 34,000. After adjustment, the current structure of foreign trade mainly consists of general trade and is supplemented by processing and transit trade.

In the past ten years, various national opening-up platforms have been approved to be set up in Dalian, including the Dalian Changxing Island Economic and Technological Development Zone, the Dalian Lyushun Economic and Technological Development Zone, the Dalian Jinpu New Area, the Dalian Section of China (Liaoning) Pilot Free Trade Zone, and the Demonstration Area for China-Japan (Dalian) Local Development and Cooperation, which has effectively developed a new opening-up pattern in Dalian.

The capacity of the opening-up platforms has been significantly improved. There are now three national economic development zones, with Dalian Economic and Technological Development Zone placing among the top ten in the "Top 100 Asian Development Zones with Investment Value". With the approval of the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China, the Dalian Wanli Comprehensive Bonded Zone, and the Dayaowan Comprehensive Bonded Zone have been put into operation. The Dalian Section of China (Liaoning) Pilot Free Trade Zone, the new driving force for improving the overall competitiveness and capacity of opening-up in the city, has achieved over 460 institutional innovation achievements since its establishment in 2017. Among them, three innovative cases have been replicated and promoted domestically, two reform cases of state-owned enterprises promoted nationwide, and 76 institutional innovation cases promoted in Liaoning province.

French national Stéphane Gonnetand, Director of a French enterprise Dalian ODC Marine Manufacture Co., Ltd., was given the title of an Honorary Citizen of Dalian in 2017. He established a yacht manufacturing company in Dalian to focus on the research and manufacturing of passenger ships equipped with lithium energy. The company has manufactured the world's first lithium hybrid system passenger ship. Passenger ships produced by the company have been exported to Europe, effectively establishing Dalian's reputation in the European market.

Stéphane Gonnetand and his company are part of Dalian's expanding network of international cooperation. As of now, Dalian has established sister-city relations with 44 cities in 22 countries. The title of Honorary Citizen of Dalian has been conferred upon 155 individuals from 24 countries and regions. More than 80 enterprises with the honorary title of Honorary Citizen have been encouraged to invest in Dalian, which has provided strong support for the city to achieve a high level of opening-up to the outside world.