During the mid-winter, there was hustle and bustle of construction activities on both sides of the Jingjiang Section of the Yangtze River. All construction projects were intensely under construction.
In the Jingzhou Jiangling Industrial Base for New Energy and New Materials north of the Yangtze River, the first phase of the Jingzhou Hualu-Hengsheng Base with an investment of CNY46 billion was just put into operation, and the second phase was under construction. On January 7, with concrete being poured to the last slab, the main bodies of the No. 5 circulating water station and the building for ammonium carbonate packaging were capped.
In the Lingang Industrial Park of Songzi south of the Yangtze River, there were rows upon rows of modern factories. The Stanley New Energy and New Material Project, with an investment of CNY11 billion, will be officially put into production on February 18 after more than a year of intense efforts in construction. In Shishou, the circular economy project of Xianhe Co., Ltd. based on high-performance paper-based new materials with an investment of CNY 10 billion was put into production on January 3.
According to statistics, in 2023, Jingzhou launched 724 new projects worth more than CNY 100 million and continued construction for 482 existing projects. It enjoyed the fastest growth of investments in fixed assets — 10.1%— in Hubei Province.
In recent years, Jingzhou has signed contracts for more than 20 industrial projects worth tens of billions of yuan. These projects are just launched, under construction, or put into production. In 2023 alone, four such projects were completed and put into production, and this drove the rapid growth of industrial investment in Jingzhou. Moreover, Jingzhou has vigorously promoted technological reform in the industrial sector. A group of manufacturing companies have changed production lines, machines, and equipment, and massively scaled up productivity and efficiency. According to statistics, in 2023, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 8.8%, industrial investment surged by 28.1%, and investment in technological reform went up by 16.3% compared with the last year.
There was rapid progress in major transportation projects such as the Jingmen–Jingzhou high-speed railway, the Libu Yangtze River Highway and Railway Bridge, the Guanyinsi Yangtze River Bridge, and the Wuhan-Songzi Expressway. To the north of Jingzhou Railway Station, the main body of its northern building with a gross floor area of 16,000 m2 has been completed, and the installation of curtain walls and interior decoration come into the final stage. Wen Jianyong, Head of the Engineering Department of the Jingmen–Jingzhou Railway Headquarters, stated that the Jingmen–Jingzhou Railway would be completed in the second half of 2024, and the northern building of Jingzhou Railway Station would be put into operation at the same time.
In the downtown area of Jingzhou, major urban construction projects such as Jingzhou New Town and Jingzhou University Town are well under construction.19 projects including the new campus of Yangtze University College of Arts and Sciences in Jingzhou University Town and the Brain Command Center of Digital City were completed and put into operation. Jingjiang Avenue with a length of 56km is about be fully opened to traffic. Qujiang Road, which runs through four campuses, has been fully completed and opened to traffic. 22 projects under construction including the new campus of Jingzhou Vocational College of Technology have seen faster progress, and the Jingzhou New Town Exhibition Hall will soon be officially opened to the public.
The Government Work Report 2024 of Jingzhou shows that there will be a new round of technological reform and upgrading for traditional industries in 2024; more than 400 technological reform projects will be completed; and investment growth in technological reform is planned to surpass 15%. Jingzhou New Town will focus on expediting the progress of 12 projects such as the Jianghan Plain Industrial Exchange Center, and Jingzhou University Town will complete the construction of nine projects including the new campus of Jingzhou Vocational College of Technology.