Ningbo is an important port city located 220 kilometres (140 mi) south of Shanghai. The export industry of this city dates back to the 7th century. Today Ningbo is a major exporter of textiles, food, electrical products, and industrial tools. In 2009, after the economic crisis, Ningbo's economy grew 8.6 percent to 421.5 billion yuan (US$61.7 billion). The city's per capita output was US$10,833, about three times the national average.Ningbo is famous for the Si Lan Nong Xiang flower. Used for dyeing cloth, 2008 exports were responsible for 3% of the Ningbo economic growth.
Ningbo Economic & Technological Development Zone
Located in the north-east of Ningbo, behind Beilun Port, NETD is 27 kilometers away from the city center. With more than 20 years of great effort, NETD has already formed the general framework for large scale construction and development, and established perfect investment environment. It is situated close to the Ningbo Port and Ningbo Lishe International Airport. Major Investors include Exxon Mobile, Dupont and Dow Chemical.
Ningbo National Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone
Ningbo National Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone was founded in 1999 and was upgraded to a national level zone in January 2007. It is only 10 km (6.2 mi) away from Ningbo International Airport and 18 km (11 mi) away from Ningbo Port. The zone serves as the important technical innovation base of Yangtze River Delta. Industries encouraged include Chemicals Production and Processing, Biotechnology/Pharmaceuticals, Raw Material Processing, Research and Development.
Ningbo Free Trade Zone
Ningbo Free Trade Zone is one of the 15 free trade zones authorized by the State Council of China, and is the only free trade zone in Zhejiang Province. It was established by State Council in 1992, covering the area of 2.3 km2 (0.89 sq mi). It lies in the middle of the coastline of Mainland China, at the south of Yangtze River Delta. In 2008, its industrial output value was RMB 53.33 billion and grew at 19.8% as compared to 2007.
Ningbo Free Trade Zone is located on the south of Beilun Port. In 3 hours drive, there are four international airports, namely Ningbo Lishe airport, Hangzhou Xiaoshan airport, Shanghai Hongqiao airport, Shanghai Pudong airport. When the Ningbo-Shanghai trans-sea bridge is finished, the convenience of transportation will be further improved.
Nordic Industrial Park
The Nordic Industrial Park Co. Ltd. (NIP) is one of the first wholly foreign-owned industrial parks in China located in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. NIP is managed and operated by a Scandinavian management team.The main owner of NIP is the privately-owned investment company Styrbjørn AS (www.styrbjorn.com) located in Stavanger, Norway. NIP was registered in September 2002 and started full operations in early 2004. NIP’s Scandinavian management team with extensive China experience and know-how takes care of daily operations. It offers professional in-house business services and support in combination with high-quality office, assembly and production facilities that are delivered fully decorated, prepared and ready-to-use.
Ningbo port
Ningbo is not just an ordinary city – it has the same authority as provincial governments for economic administration – and has a port second only to Shanghai around the world in terms of annual cargo throughput.Unlike Shanghai, the port is deepwater and capable of handling 300,000 tonne vessels.
The port is located mainly in Beilun district and Zhenhai district. In 2006, Ningbo Port started its expansion to the neighbouring island City of Zhoushan for the purpose of building an even larger port with higher capacity to compete with neighbouring ports in the region, such asShanghai's Yangshan Deep-Water Port. The statistics in 2010 showed that total cargo throughput was 627,000,000 tonnes and container throughput 13,144,000 TEUs. With bulk container breakdowns, hugely improved logistics, and massive chemical and foodstuff, processing developments, Ningbo could yet win the race with Shanghai as port of choice for servicing
