XIAMEN: Once a heavily polluted, industrial city, Xingtai in North China’s Hebei province has now become one of the most important centers of the new energy industry, top officials said yesterday.
“We are taking initiatives to develop new energy sources in Xingtai, the goal being to develop the city into a leader of new energy in China,” Liu Daqun, the city’s mayor, said yesterday at a promotional fair for new energy development.
The event was held prior to the opening of the 13th China International Fair for Investment and Trade, which opened today in the coastal city of Xiamen.
At the event, the Xingtai government signed as many as nine photovoltaic projects worth about 4.2 billion yuan with domestic and overseas investors.
“Considering the global economic downturn, this is a golden opportunity for Xingtai to alter its traditional industrial structure, as both China and the world are focusing on promoting renewable energy,” Liu said.
Xingtai has a large number of manufacturers in the new energy industry, such as Jinlong Industry & Commerce Group, which offers patented monocrystal silicon and high-efficiency solar cell technology.
The group, which is the parent company of NASDAQ-listed Jin’ao Company, has 35 solar battery production lines and 500 monocrystal silicon processing stations, with sales reaching upwards of 11.8 billion yuan last year.
Photovoltaic industrial output in the Xingtai Development Area is also expected to reach 500 million yuan this year, Liu said.
To facilitate new energy development, the city has set up a 25 sq km industrial base, which is located in the Xingtai Development Area, according to Liu.
Some leading companies in the world, including the Yingxin Group and Bomei Sun-tech Development Company, have already been operating in the industrial base. A new sun-tech demonstration project by Southeast University is already under way.
The Xingtai New Energy Industrial Base also signed strategic partnerships with the China Renewable Energy Society (SRES) yesterday, in addition to having already signed partnership agreements with the China Materials Research Society and the Shenzhen Solar Energy Association to build a research and development center with the Nanjing-based Southeast University.
“Xingtai has a solid foundation to develop new energy industries. The city is in a position to improve the strength of new energy through cooperating with academic and research institutes,” said Zhao Yuwen, SRES deputy director.
China produced some 5,000 tons of silicon last year, according to Zhao.
“It is far from enough to meet the growing domestic need of silicon considering up to 70 percent of silicon consumed in the nation is imported,” Zhao said.
Zhao therefore urged the Xingtai city government to make full use of policies issued by the central government to support the new energy industries, thereby increasing its competitiveness in the international market.
“The city should better optimize its investment environment and introduce more overseas partners in developing new forms of energy,” Zhao said.
Since the outbreak of the global ?nancial crisis, China and the rest of the world have redoubled their efforts to develop new forms of energy.
The enhanced development of new energy in Xingtai, which has been awarded as China’s ?rst “Solar Energy Construction City” last year, will greatly reduce the pressure to import foreign fuel, diminish the outflow of cash, and cut down the level of pollutants in the environment,” Zhao said.
Before the opening of yesterday’s promotional event, leading officials from both the Hebei provincial and Xingtai city governments met deputies of business delegations from the Netherlands, the United States and Taiwan.
“We are sparing no efforts to encourage cooperation in the new energy sector with overseas counterparts,” said Yang Chongyong, vice governor of Hebei province.
The provincial government has listed the photovoltaic industry as one of the key industries during the 11th Five-year plan period (2006-10), Yang said.
“We have also issued a slew of preferential policies, such as increasing financial capital supports and encouraging technology transfers, in order to develop the new energy industry,” the vice governor said.
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