Brief Introduction to Shatian Town and Humen Port_Industrial Zones_Invest in Dongguan (2024)

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Brief Introduction to Shatian Town and Humen Port

Shatian Town and Humen Port are situated on the eastern bank of the Lion Ocean (or Shiziyang Ocean) at the Pearl River estuary in southwest Dongguan, with a total area of 111.5 km2. They lie in the middle of the Guangzhou-Dongguan-Shenzhen-Hong Kong development region at the center of the PRD economic circle that boasts the most dynamic export-oriented economy. With well-developed transportation networks, Shatian Town and Humen Port are accessible via numerous transportation lines, such as the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-Speed Rail, Guangzhou-Shenzhen Yanjiang Motorway, Gangkou Avenue (completed and opened to traffic), Guangzhou-Dongguan-Shenzhen Intercity Light Rail System, Humen Bridge No. 2(under construction), Panyu-Dongguan Motorway and Yanhai Highway (under planning) and other provincial and municipal arteries. They all stop at Shatian Town and Humen Port, making the surrounding cities including Guangzhou, Shenzhen and downtown Dongguan accessible within half an hour’s drive. What’s more, Hong Kong and Macao are also within one-hour’s drive.
Reputed as the land of abundance, Shatian Town governs 16 village committees and one neighborhood, in which 40,000 permanent residents live. It has been awarded National Advanced Unit in Agriculture, Key Port Logistics Town of China, National Homeland of Dragon Boats, Homeland of Aquatic Folk Song (Salt Water Songs) in China, National Sanitary Town, Strong Education Town in Guangdong Province and Garden Town in Guangdong Province. As a typical waterfront town, Shatian has profound traditional culture, including the rich Danjia culture and custom. Shatian salt water songs have been successfully listed as a non-physical cultural heritage of Guangdong Province. Shatian also has a splendid dragon-boat history, with the local dragon-boat team grabbing a total of 13 gold medals in international competitions it attended on behalf of China.
Humen Port is endowed with a 53km deep-water coastline that is suitable for large-scale development, with a fairway depth of -13m. It has been awarded National First-level Port and Dongguan Cross-Border E-Commerce Industry Park. Humen Port is also one of the leading industry parks in Dongguan, one of the first ports in the Mainland that are opened for cross-Straits direct shipping services and the first in the province to promote dry-port domestic trade project. The Bonded Logistics Center of Dongguan City – the first park in the city to enjoy preferential national policies, is located here. With a development plan of 22.3km coastline and 100 berths, three areas will be developed: Xidatan, Lisha Island and Xinshanan. They will feature functions like loading & unloading, warehousing and transportation, reloading and transshipment, bonded logistics, port-centered industries, port-bonded zone integration, commercial service, leisure and tourism.

In late 2012, Dongguan municipal Party Committee and Dongguan municipal People’s Government made a strategic decision to promote coordinated development of Shatian Town and Humen Port. While maintaining stability, Shatian Town and Humen Port sought progress under the general idea of “strengthening the port, invigorating the industries and building a new town”, to adapt to the “new normal” economic development. Human resources, facilities and the environment are coordinated to allow full play to the driving role of the port. Great efforts have been made to promote integration of the port with the bonded zone as well as industries with the town. Concentrated development of port-centered industries has been accelerated. Further, six industrial clusters have been planned, namely, the comprehensive bonded area, Xidatan modern logistics and trade cluster, Lisha Island precise chemical industrial park, Nizhou Island high-tech industrial cluster, Xinshanan grain & oil processing industrial area, and Southern Shatian industrial processing area. With these efforts, we strive to create the engine for powering the modern port-related industry cluster that is rooted in the Pearl River estuary and connects with Huizhou, Dongguan and Shenzhen to serve the PRD region, China and the world. Meanwhile, we aim to build a new eco-friendly harbor town with waterfront characteristics and ultimately boost the high-level rise of the whole city.

In two years since then, the development of Shatian Town and Humen Port has been out in the fast lane with good momentum. In 2004, total output value was 9.338 billion yuan, increasing by 9.2% year on year; the added value of industries above designated scale reached 4.333 billion yuan, up by 9% year on year; total fiscal revenue amounted to 1.074 billion yuan; total taxes stood at 2.012 billion yuan, up by 30% year on year. The cargo handling capacity of Humen Port reached 130 million tons, of which 106 million tons are handled by Shatian Sub-port. Total container throughput was 2.8923 million TEUs, of which 2.2936 million TEUs are handled by Human Port Group, an increase of 51.6% from the previous year - the fastest growth in three consecutive years of all national container ports having a capacity of one million TEUs or more. Humen Port has thus become the 2nd largest domestic trade port in the PRD region. The total imports and exports of the Bonded Logistics Center of Dongguan City amounted to 6.521 billion USD, one of the four largest bonded logistics centers (type B) in China.

Economic Development