Port city aims to further boost GDP, advance consumption

Dalian is looking to expand its foreign trade with a focus on neighboring international markets as it sprints toward becoming a city with a trillion-yuan ($139.7 billion) annual gross domestic product.

The coastal port city, in Liaoning province, has long been a vital economic center in Northeast China, and last year, its GDP reached 951.69 billion yuan.

Located at the northern side of the Bohai Strait, Dalian plans to cultivate new foreign trade opportunities by strengthening cooperation with nearby Japan and South Korea, and economies involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, said Li Hanguo, head of the Dalian Municipal Bureau of Commerce.

READ MORE: Innovation, solid supply chain attracting FDI to China

"We will promote innovative growth of trade in services and accelerate the building of comprehensive pilot zones of cross-border e-commerce in Dalian," said Li.

He added that the city will focus on optimizing the structure of foreign investment. This will include promoting investment of foreign capital in emerging industries such as advanced equipment manufacturing, digital economy, and health and medical care, the director said.

Strategic gateway

The largest port in Northeast China, Dalian serves as a trade gateway to the Pacific. It has been actively integrating itself into the development of the BRI, and helped optimize the route layout.

Currently, Dalian Port operates 106 container ship routes, including 93 foreign trade routes, covering more than 300 ports in over 160 countries and regions worldwide, its own data shows.

In the first half of this year, Dalian Port launched four new foreign trade routes. The new routes directly connect Dalian with important ports in countries including the United Kingdom, Germany and Egypt, providing efficient logistics solutions for enterprises in Northeast China.

"They mainly export and import goods such as chemicals, minerals, mechanical and electrical equipment, automobiles and accessories, as well as agricultural products and food," said Zhou Jinlu, deputy manager of the marketing department of Dalian Container Terminal Co, of the Liaoning Port Group.

In particular, exports of high value-added products such as complete vehicles, spare parts, and mechanical equipment from Dalian to India have continued to grow. In the first six months of the year, the total export and import volume of goods between Dalian and South Asia jumped nearly 80 percent year-on-year, according to Dalian Port.

Trade with Russia remains stable, with growth in the number of temporary voyages from Dalian to cities such as St Petersburg. From January to June, the total export and import volume of goods between Dalian and Russia grew by nearly 50 percent year-on-year, Dalian Port said.

In the first five months of this year, Dalian's import and export trade achieved a trade surplus for the first time in nearly a decade. The total import and export value reached 191.98 billion yuan, up 5 percent year-on-year. The export value amounted to 97.54 billion yuan, and the import value came in at 94.44 billion yuan, according to Dalian Customs.

Mechanical and electrical products, as well as petrochemical products, have also been driving strong export growth.

Over the same period, the export of ships built in Dalian reached 9.83 billion yuan, jumping 58.7 percent year-on-year, and accounting for 10.1 percent of Dalian's total export value of foreign trade.

The growth in exports to member states of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership as well as the economies involved in the BRI is reflected in the significant growth of exports to Malaysia, especially the export of crude oil, Dalian Customs said. In the first five months, Dalian maintained a strong growth momentum in its import and export trade with Malaysia, reaching 21.87 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 27.5 percent, according to customs.

The RCEP, which came into effect in 2022, is the world's largest free trade deal, encompassing the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, plus China, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.

Coastal tourism

Dalian, with the longest coastline on the Chinese mainland at 2,211 kilometers, is also strengthening as a tourism hub.

This year, voyage bookings on Adora Mediterranea, a cruise ship operated by Chinese cruise line Adora Cruises, have been in high demand in Dalian, according to the operator and travel agencies.

The popularity of voyages has been a shot in the arm for the recovery and growth of the cruise tourism market in Dalian and Northeast China, Dalian Port said.

Liaoning Port Group, the parent company of Dalian Port, has continued to renovate the berth and international waiting halls of Dalian Port, and launched services such as foreign currency exchange and sales of duty-free goods to enhance its ability to receive international cruise ships and passengers.

"Fueled by China's policies such as unilateral visa-free entry to multiple countries and visa-free transit for foreign tourists, we firmly believe that the number of cruise ships and tourists visiting Dalian will significantly grow in the future," said Wang Bo, assistant to the general manager of Dalian Port's passenger transport branch.

Dalian started receiving international cruise ships in 1976, and since then has attracted tens of thousands of tourists for sightseeing. This year, the city is expected to welcome 15 international cruise ship visits.

Besides taking cruises, more foreign tourists are arriving in Dalian as individual travelers, as China's favorable visa policies bear fruit. Late last year, China began unilateral visa-free policies for visitors from South Korea and Japan. Located close to the two countries, the number of inbound tourists to Dalian has since significantly increased.

In the first six months of this year, Dalian International Airport saw more than 89,000 passenger trips by inbound foreign visitors, up 53.4 percent year-on-year.

Of those, 61,000 foreigners entered the city with visa-free entry or under the 240-hour visa-free transit arrangement, accounting for 68.1 percent of the total, according to the local border inspection.

A total of 90 percent of inbound foreign travelers were from Japan, South Korea, Russia and Mongolia, Dalian Zhoushuizi entry-exit border inspection station said.

"In Dalian, we can watch seagulls, penguins and pandas, and all of those animals are quite cute," said a South Korean traveler surnamed Kim. "We can also taste different kinds of food. The city is very clean and it is quite fun."

To facilitate foreign tourists' purchases, by the end of May, some 26,800 merchants in Dalian accepted payment by foreign debit and credit cards. The number was 170 percent higher than the number in February 2024, according to the Dalian Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism.

With no intense heat in summer or severe cold in winter, the city also has a climate advantage over other travel destinations, the bureau said.

For this summer's peak holiday period, domestic and foreign carriers are ramping up efforts to launch new flights or boost the frequency of flights on existing routes to meet growing traveler demand.

State-owned China Southern Airlines, for instance, has increased flights between Dalian and Seoul to three times a day, as well as daily flights to Osaka in Japan.

Dalian Jinzhouwan International Airport — set to become the world's largest offshore airport on an artificial island — is currently under construction, with the main project scheduled for completion by 2028. It is also expected to become a regional transportation hub in Northeast China.

Meanwhile, Dalian is committed to building an internationally influential consumption center by promoting new stores, exhibitions, and screenings to further stimulate market vitality.

"We would like to build ourselves into a preferred destination for watching popular concerts," said Shan Meina, head of the Dalian Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism.

"The local government has issued 10 measures to promote the concert economy. This year, over 20 concerts have been scheduled throughout the year."

Soccer city

In another development, Dalian plans to further build itself into a city renowned for sports culture. The city has held various sports events such as the Dalian Marathon, the Dalian International Walking Festival, and sea fishing competitions.

Known as a "soccer city" in China, Dalian has a profound soccer culture and top soccer infrastructure. Last year, it hosted four international and 25 national soccer events, attracting over 18,000 domestic and foreign participants and over 800,000 spectator visits, according to the Dalian Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism.

The first soccer team in Dalian was officially established in 1921. Since then, soccer in the city has continued to develop and grow, achieving remarkable results in both domestic and international competitions.

On days when there are soccer matches, the bustling Dalian Suoyuwan Football Stadium — the first professional soccer stadium in China surrounded by the sea on three sides — becomes the hottest place in the city.

"We plan to build Dalian into a preferred tourist destination for soccer tours, and we will carry out more innovative events such as soccer carnivals," Shan said.

She added it is expected that the city's soccer heritage, its holding of different kinds of soccer matches, and exciting fan experiences at games will help drive local consumption growth and create a niche that integrates sports and cultural tourism.

Jinpu New Area

In late June, the groundbreaking ceremony for the pure electric vehicle battery project of joint venture Prime Planet Energy Dalian was held in the Dalian area of China (Liaoning) Pilot Free Trade Zone located in the Jinpu New Area of Dalian.

With a total investment of 3.7 billion yuan, the new project is expected to achieve annual output value of 4 billion yuan once it reaches full production capacity.

The project is expected to fill a gap in the high-end power battery industry in Dalian and boost the development of the entire industrial chain of new energy vehicles in the city.

ALSO READ: China launches green methanol bunkering at Dalian Port

Jinpu New Area, founded in 2014, is the country's 10th and Northeast China's first State-level new area. The area handles over 70 percent of the foreign trade cargo transportation volume in Northeast China, and over 98 percent of the foreign trade container transportation volume in the region.

The city's core port areas are located in Jinpu New Area, and it operates a number of specialized terminals for containers, automobiles, ores and other goods, according to Lyu Dongsheng, director of Jinpu New Area's administrative committee.

Targeting five strategic emerging industries including digital economy, new energy, new materials, low-altitude economy, and the marine economy, the new area has continued to shape new competitive advantages.

It is accelerating the localized use of artificial intelligence models such as DeepSeek, and steadily promoting the construction of a hydrogen energy industrial park, a new material industrial park, and an ocean economy industrial park.

Lyu said Jinpu will strengthen alignment with international high-standard economic and trade rules, promptly adjust and optimize strategies for institutional innovation, and continuously roll out high-quality innovative outcomes that are highly beneficial to enterprises and that are replicable.

Contact the writers at zhuwenqian@chinadaily.com.cn