NEW CBD SET TO EMERGE IN WEST CHANGCHUN
6 January 2010
China Daily
Founded a year ago – on December 29, 2008 – the Western New Town Development Zone is among the newest commercial sites in Changchun.
Despite its fledgling status, the zone has already proved its appeal to financiers who are keen to invest in Changchun, the capital of the northeastern Jilin province, and one of the famous cultural cities in northeast Asia.
According to Wang Tingkai, head of the government of the Liuyuan district, the new complex benefits from being the proposed site for the Changchun Western Passenger Railway Station and from neighboring China’s largest automobile manufacturing base, the Changchun Automobile Industrial Park.
Work began on the new station in September and is scheduled for completion in 2011.
Wang said the new railway station will establish the zone as a major transportation hub within Jilin and will act as a gateway to the whole of northeast China. Once completed, the station will provide access to a number of high-speed lines linking Harbin and Dalian and Harbin and Beijing.
Once operational, it will take only four hours to travel between Changchun and Beijing, three hours between Changchun and Dalian and one hour between Changchun, Shenyang and Harbin.
The development zone is also adjacent to a number of well-known local businesses, including the First Auto Works, the largest automaker in China, the Dacheng Group, the largest corn processing enterprise in Asia and the fourth largest in world, the Haoyue Group, the nation’s largest beef processing company and the Changchun Railway Vehicles Co Ltd.
Wang said: "Such industrial giants will have a huge demand for ancillary businesses to provide equipment, spare parts and related services."
The western CBD
Wang said that the development zone now has a detailed development plan in place, with the aim of ultimately establishing the zone as the western central business district (CBD) of Changchun.
Outlining its appeal, Wang said: "Highlighting the modern service industries and its excellent environment, the western CBD will be a suitable place for both business and residential purposes. With a number of business facilities, including office buildings, under construction, the zone will also be the ideal site for both international and local companies to establish their regional headquarters."
Changchun is located at the geographic center of northeast China. The Western New Town Development Zone is expected to make use of this geographical advantage to develop a business hub serving any company looking to access the potentially huge northeastern market.
With regard to environmental improvements, Wang said the zone is committed to investing in a major upgrade to its water resources, currently served by the Tongxin Lake, the Xinglong Lake and the Daliutun Reservoir. Plans are also in place to plant more trees and increase the grass coverage in parks and along the roadsides.
On the infrastructure front, the local government has earmarked funds for the construction of a new light railway, an enhanced subway network and major additions to the road network.
According to Wang, the zone will encompass a 13 sq km development stretching from the Western Third Ring Road in the east, the Western Fourth Ring Road in the west, Zili West Street in the south and the Haoyue Road to the north.
Six functional areas
Wang said the zone will be composed of six functional areas – a transportation hub, a business area by the railway station, an office complex, an information industry area, a tourism center and a residential area.
The transportation hub will include the 220,000 sq m Changchun Western Passenger Railway Station and other access points, including roads, subways and light railways.
The business area will focus on finance, shopping, catering, entertainment and consultation sectors.
The office complex will be located on Jingyang Avenue, the east-west axis of both Changchun and the development zone. With facilities such as serviced offices, exhibition and convention venues and high-end hotels, this will be the core of the city’s CBD and an ideal site for any company’s regional headquarters.
The information industry area, also adjacent to the railway station, will highlight the design, research and development, exhibition, marketing and hi-tech products sectors.
The tourism zone, on the banks of the Xinglong Lake, will offer a number of leisure facilities, including bars, restaurants, museums and galleries.
A range of high-end residential facilities will be built near the Xinglong and Tongxin lakes, complete with a raft of service facilities, notably hospitals, schools and shops.
According to Wang, construction of the major infrastructure facilities in the zone will be completed within two years. As a number of multinationals and famous domestic companies establish their operations there, it is expected to achieve its full potential as a business and residential center within eight years.
Did hell freeze over and someone forgot to tell me? I didn’t notice, but was the moon in the 7th house and Jupiter aligned with Mars? (
Now we know Microsoft should be doing this work, and we suspect strongly it will come bundled in 
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