Tianjin

Background

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Tianjin, referred to as "Jin" for short, is one of the four municipalities directly under the Central Government of China. Not only is it an international harbor and economic center in the north of China, but it is also well-known for its profound historical and cultural heritage.

It took a long time for the city to come into being. In ancient times, sea water receded from what is Tianjin now. For three times, the Yellow River, with the highest content of sand in the world, flowed through this place into the sea, thus forming Tianjin Plain. Even today, a few seashell dikes of ancient times can still be found in such places as Shanggulin in Tianjin. According to research findings, these dikes are the remains of the ancient coastal lines.

The name of "Tianjin", meaning "a port for the emperor", was first adopted in the first year of Yongle Reign in Ming Dynasty. In the second year of Yongle Reign (1404), Tianjin became a walled garrison. In 1860 Tianjin was opened as a trading port. In the1930s, Tianjin became the largest industrial and commercial city and financial center in the north of China.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Tianjin became a municipality directly under the central government. In1978, with the adoption of the policy to reform and open up to the outside world, Tianjin became one of the first coastal cities in China to open up.

In the Outline of the 11th Five-Year Plan for the Development of National Economy and Society in the People's Republic of China, which was approved of in 2006, it is pointed out that the development and opening of Tianjin Binhai New Area is part of the overall national development strategy of China. In the future, efforts will be made to build Tianjin into an international harbor city, economic center in the north of China, and an ecological city. This positioning of the city provides Tianjin with a broad stage for Tianjin to seek further development.

Tianjin is the birthplace of modern machinery industry and textile industry in China. At the beginning of the 20th century, Tianjin was the second largest industrial city in China. Since the adoption of the policy to reform and open up in 1978, Tianjin has become even more vigorous, and it is now on its way to becoming an economic center with advanced technology, favorable environment, great strength in science and technology, and a rich supply of human resources.

Between 1993 and 2006, with its double-digit growth of gross production value every year, Tianjin became one of the areas that developed rapidly in China.

Since the adoption of the policy to reform and open up, Tianjin has opened wide to fuse itself into the global trend of economic development. In addition, the investment environment has been improved steadily. Tianjin enjoys a lot of advantages in its investment environment: its convenient port transportation, open market, excellent logistic services, attractive investment policies, highly efficient government services, and its transaction environment characterized by honesty and cooperation. So far, Tianjin has attracted investment from over 110countries and regions, and nearly 18,000 foreign-funded enterprises have established their branches in Tianjin, bringing along investment more than US $55 billion. Of the top 500 enterprises in the world, more then 110 have invested in Tianjin.

In the Outline of the 11th Five-Year Plan for the Development of National Economy and Society in the People's Republic of China, which was approved of in 2006, it is pointed out that the development and opening of Tianjin Binhai New Area is part of the overall national development strategy of China. This important decision will surely provide great momentum and favorable conditions to boost the development of Tianjin.

During the period of the "11th Five-Year Plan", Tianjin has given priority to the development of service outsourcing and will concentrate on the establishment of a service outsourcing convergence zone with industrial groups and with distinctive features. It will also introduce a series of large-size outsourcing enterprises in and out of China and nurture a group of local key outsourcing enterprises which have proprietary intellectual property rights and brands. The concrete development goals are as follows:

First, in 2010, the total value of service outsourcing should reach 30 billion yuan with service outsourcing export being 1.5 billion dollars. Second, attract 1200 domestic and foreign companies to set up service outsourcing companies in Tianjin, 70 of which should have CMM I / CMM3 certificate or above and 30 of which should have CMM 5 / CMM I 5 certificate.

Third, cultivate one or two enterprises with over ten thousand employees and 50 enterprises with one thousand employees.

Fourth, provide trainings to 120,000 college students and create 140,000 more job positions in service outsourcing sector. Fifth, in 2010, about 100,000 college students will be employed in Tianjin and more than 160,000 people will work for the service outsourcing industry.

As an authorized service outsourcing base city, Tianjin has formulated a series of preferential policies in land use, taxation, and talents introduction. In March 2007, Tianjin promulgated the following policies: Opinions on Tianjin Promoting Service Outsourcing Development, Provisional Regulations on Promoting Development of Service Outsourcing in Tianjin Economic Development Zone, Methods on Awarding Investment in Huayuan Industrial Park (outside the ring) by Tianjin Hi-tech Industry Park, Preferential Taxation Policies for Development of Software Industry and Integrated Circuit Industry, Notice by the Tianjin Government on Accelerating Development of Software Industry, and Guideline for Development of Service Outsourcing Industry in the Free Trade Zone.

In 2008, Tianjin formulated more policies such as Implementation Methods on Promoting Development of Service Outsourcing in Tianjin, Incentives for Accelerating Development of Software and Service Outsourcing Industries in Tianjin Hi-tech Industry Park, Regulations on Promoting Development of Service Outsourcing in Tianjin Economic Development Zone so as to provide support for sourcing companies in taxation, finance, training, labor and innovation.