Sphere
#37
2015
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generally enjoyed an excellent facilitative
relationship with PFL, but the port has
also become a key part of our community
on numerous fronts over the years.
PFL is responsible—either directly or
through associated logistics and support
businesses—for more than the equivalent
of one in 10 jobs in the county of Suffolk.
As such, our town has enjoyed near full
employment and significant economic
growth over the years. It is for this reason
that the port is greatly valued and held in
such high esteem in the town.”
Where Felixstowe’s development
has propelled the growth of the local
town, halfway around the world, port
development in a rural seaside county in
Mainland China spurred the transformation
of an entire region.
Yantian: Transforming
the Pearl River Delta
It’s hard to imagine that in 1979, Shenzhen
was home to just rice paddies and some
fisherfolk. The transformation began when
former leader Deng Xiaoping implemented
a policy of economic reform for China,
and Shenzhen was designated as the
nation’s first Special Economic Zone. The
area was developed as an experiment in
urbanisation and industrialisation, opening
China to the world. This programme
transformed the region and millions of
peoples’ lives.
Over the course of 30 years, Shenzhen
grew from a rural county of about 30,000
people into a modern city of 15 million, as
people flocked from all over China to be
part of the vanguard of a nation’s opening.
From 1980 to 2011, the city’s annual GDP
growth averaged a staggering 25 per cent.
Up to 2013, Shenzhen claimed the highest
export volume in China for 21 consecutive
years. Along with Shenzhen’s economic
development came extensive growth of the
city’s physical and human infrastructure.
Shenzhen’s port, China’s window
But to create this modern trading centre
and open China’s economy, the nascent
city would need a port—and a port
operator. If Shenzhen was to be China’s
catalyst for change, the port would be its
window to the world. The Chinese and
new Shenzhen government recognised the
importance of getting this right.
In 1993, with the endorsement of the
Shenzhen government, HWL and Shenzhen
Dongpeng Industry Company Limited
(now Shenzhen Yantian Port Group) signed
a joint-venture agreement to establish
Yantian International Container Terminals
(YICT). The terminal became the first
foreign-held joint-venture port in Mainland
China.
From humble beginnings
toworld leader
Before the port was built, the area now
known as Yantian District was just a sub-
district within the Luohu District. When
the port became operational in 1994, the
local government saw and acted on the
need to facilitate transport and exchange
by building freeways, rail and other key
supporting infrastructure. In 1997, the
State Council officially declared the area its
own district, meaning it could undertake
independent policies that catered to its
new residents. Soon, schools and hospitals
were built in the district to accommodate
incoming talent.
YICT handled a mere 13,000 twenty-
foot equivalent units (TEUs) in its first
year. Growth quickly escalated as HPH
leveraged its strategic position next to
Hong Kong. Ships could connect to the
trans-shipment hub of Hong Kong,
where additional HPH expertise was
readily at hand.
Port logistics became one of the pillars of
Yantian’s economy and related industries
created a total of 143,000 jobs. The jobs
demanded an educated workforce, so the
Yantian District and surrounding Shenzhen
became the home of high-quality local and
international schools accepting students
from all over the country. To this day, the
Shenzhen Foreign Languages School in
Yantian is one of the top secondary schools
in China.
Mr Li Yinjun, the principal of a local
primary school, has been in Yantian since
1991. Mr Li emphasised that the port put
Yantian on the map. “Without the port,” he
said, “Yantian would not be an independent
district. And it would have been less likely
for people abroad and in China to know
that it even existed.”
The development of the regional economy
meant that millions were able to leave
“The port has become a key
part of our community.”
Councillor Graham Newman,
Mayor of Felixstowe
