Copyright 2024 - Ningbo Life / Ningbo Expat

Ningbo Port container throughput up 8% y/y

Ningbo Port is maintaining a steady growth despite the economic slowdown, data issued by the port's operator showed. Ningbo Port saw a cargo throughput of 39.5 million tons in September, a year-on-year growth of 8.5 percent, and a container throughput of 1.47 million TEUs, an increase of 16.5 percent year-on-year. The total container throughput in 2012 hit 11.97 million TEUs, an increase of 8 percent over the previous year, leading China's other ports in terms of growth rate.

Facing the complicated economic situation at home and abroad, Ningbo Port accelerated the pace of transformation and upgrading, and enlarged cargo canvassing network. All of the four major types cargo it handles (coal, crude oil, ores, liquid chemicals) registered growth on a yearly basis. Meanwhile, Ningbo Port makes effort to boost the development of the port container transportation by seeking cooperation with large shipping companies and big customers. The port also promotes their service by opening new routes and adding more flights. Ningbo Port has currently a total of 235 container routes, with 1,600 container flights per month. Data shows, 70 percent of the total container throughput was contributed by ocean routes, which marks Ningbo Port is turning to be a top port on ocean routes.

Plus, Ningbo Port is improving the service efficiency of container operations. On September 4, Beilun Terminal once again refreshed the world record maintained by the Ningbo Port by loading/unloading 235 containers per hour, or three containers per minute. Ningbo Port has been maintaining its first place in the efficiency rankings released by the world largest shipping company Maersk since last October.

City tightens control on outdoor advertising billboards

Ningbo has enacted a ban on illegal installation of outdoor advertising billboards, according to an agreement signed on Monday between the municipal government and its six districts and the national high-tech zones.

Statistics released by the Urban Management Department show that there are 16,015 outdoor advertising billboards in the six districts and high-tech zone, and 93 percent of them were installed without any approval from the city planning department. Meanwhile, some billboards are lack of management, and even made from materials of poor quality. These billboards not only damage the city landscape but also pose potential threat to public safety. The municipal government vows to tighten control over these outdoor advertising billboards. According to the agreement, the urban management department will eliminate illegal outdoor advertising billboards, and regulate or integrate the advertising billboards in the urban downtown, major roads, major entrances and exits, airports, railway stations, bus stations, plazas, and stadiums. Ningbo will adopt a responsible management approach to outdoor advertising and ensure the urban scene.

Ningbo Municipal Government signed cooperative agreement with China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation

To help export enterprises solve the problem in accepting orders and to strengthen the market, the other day, Ningbo Municipal Government and China Export Credit Insurance Company signed an agreement on deepening cooperation. Vice Mayor of Ningbo Hong Jiaxiang and Vice Manager General of China Export Credit Insurance Company New Qingshan signed the agreement.

This year, Ningbo strengthened the support to the credit insurance for export trade. By the end of September, the export with credit insurance reaches 9.46 billion US dollars, increased by 23.7% year on year. The penetration of credit insurance for export is close to 20%, 4 points higher than the end of 2011.

According to the agreement, Ningbo Municipal Government shall strengthen the policy support to the credit insurance for export, create insurance platforms and guide foreign trade enterprises to insure. China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation shall give full support to Ningbo in establishing the risk management system for foreign trade enterprises. It will take more active insurance policies to meet the demands of credit granting for the key export markets and key export enterprises. In the meanwhile, it will raise the tolerance for risks so as to satisfy the insurance demand of the foreign trade enterprises that have orders and export business

600,000 aged people enjoy home-based caring service

According to Ningbo Municipal Bureau of Civil Affairs,by the end of last year, 600,000 aged people in urban and rural areas enjoyed various home-based caring services; over 90% of the communities and 43% of the administrative villages offer home-based caring services; 269 communities and 1146 villages have home-based caring service stations; Ningbo has over 2,100 full-time and spare-time nurses for the aged, whose services cover physical care, household services, nursing, entertainment and so on. Some home-based aging service centers have dining halls for the aged. All the home-based caring service centers are non-profitable and they are financed by the governments or the village.

In September this year, Ningbo released "Opinions on Improving Social Old Age Service System", which has several policies in favor of home-based old age caring services. With this document, Ningbo took the lead in China to establish a system of subsidies for the operation of home-based old-age caring institutions.

Before other cities in China, Ningbo established a system that the government pays for the home-based caring services for the poverty-stricken aged people. At present, Ningbo has over 7,000 poverty-stricken aged people enjoying the caring services paid by the government or the village. The 81890 service platform offers 24-hour sos services for the aged people by the telephones installed for free for some of the aged people. At present, the city has over 20,000 aged people benefitted by the policy. Ningbo now has about 30,000 volunteers and over 60,000 aged people get one-to-one services by the volunteers

Ningbo taks the lead in Zhejiang in the integrated urban and rural development

Each day of the National Day holiday week, the Farmer's Inn in Shadi Village of Dingtang Town of Xiangshan received s400-500 guests from Shanghai, Hangzhou and other cities. Zheng Jingzhi, Secretary of the Party Committee of the village he said, "In the village, there are 40 families engaged in business of farmer's inns. 7 families are preparing to open their farmers inns in the end of this year. The city people like to come to our village, for the beautiful environment, convenient traffic and reasonable prices of our services." 

Reportedly, in the past six years, Ningbo has been in the front rank of Zhejiang in the integrated urban and rural development and 2009 it entered the "phase of complete integration", the first city that entered the phase.

After the agricultural taxes were rescinded in the country, before other cities in the country, in 2005, Ningbo issued the Outline of Balancing the Development of Urban and Rural Areas of Ningbo Municipality. In this Outline, major tasks are set in the balanced development of urban and rural areas in the six fields as urban and rural plan, industrial development, employment, social security, social undertaking and infrastructural construction. The Outline also specifies the "six projects" concerning the construction of the new countryside, the training of farmers, the transfer of population and social security. In response to the outline, every year, Ningbo Municipal Party Committee and Ningbo Municipal Government released related policies and all social sectors were enthusiastic in participating in the projects.

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