Foshan Sanlongwan

1. Basic information

Sanlongwan Sci-Tech City (hereinafter referred to as, Sanlongwan) is located in the southeast of Foshan. It spans across three districts including Chancheng, Nanhai and Shunde and five towns including Shiwan, Guicheng, Chencun, Beijiao and Lecong. The area extends from Chencun Waterway in the east to Foshan Avenue in the west, from Shunde Waterway in the south to Pingzhou Waterway in the north, with a core area of 130 square kilometers. Being adjacent to Guangzhou, Sanlongwan is recognized as one of the core areas for Guangfo City development, which has Guangzhou Liwan International Science and Technology Innovation Industrial Zone at the north, Guangzhou South Railway Business District at the east, and Guangzhou Sub-center --Guangdong Nansha Free Trade Zone at the southeast.

2.Development history and positioning

Developing Sanlongwan is a major project promoted by the CPC Foshan Municipal Committee and Municipal Government in recent years.

In November, 2016, the 12th Party Congress of Foshan City firstly proposed the scheme to build the “First Ring Innovation Circle” with the high-quality carriers along the “First Ring” as a node. In January, 2018, Chancheng-Nanhai-Shunde Innovation Cluster was mentioned in the report of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 12th Foshan Municipal Committee, marking that the construction of this area was considered as a major development strategy of the city. In July of the same year, the Sixth Plenary Session named it as Sanlongwan, which aimed to drive the integrated development of the “1+5+N” innovation platforms of the First Ring Innovation Circle, and drive Foshan better intergrate with the construction of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. With the approval of the Guangdong Provincial Committee, the Management Committee of the Sino-German Industrial Service Zone in Foshan has received another title, Sanlongwan Management Committee, to coordinate the work of Sino-German Industrial Service Zone and Sanlongwan in June, 2019. There are eight professional frameworks in Sanlongwan Management Committee, namely, “Office”, “Planning and Development Bureau”, “Investment Promotion Bureau”, “Foreign Cooperation Bureau”, “Convention and Exhibition Bureau”, “Nanhai District Construction Bureau”, “Shunde District Construction Bureau” and “Chancheng District Construction Bureau”.

Sanlongwan is a strategically significant platform developed with the full efforts of Foshan. It is a major platform leading Foshan’s active participation in the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area. It is also a significant platform at the core of the Guangzhou-Foshan node. Sanlongwan will be developed into a global hub for advanced manufacturing innovation, a benchmark for open cooperation on the west bank of the Pearl River, a leading area for integrated development between Guangzhou and Foshan, and a high-quality water town in the Lingnan region.

3.Development goals

By 2022, the basic framework of Sanlongwan should be initially formed, and the construction of the initial area should be mostly completed.

By 2025, the innovative aggregation capacity of Sanlongwan should be significantly improved.

By 2035, Sanlongwan should be fully developed into an important development platform for the Greater Bay Area, as well as an innovative core on the west bank of the Pearl River.

4.Development advantages

Transportation advantages. Situated in the central area of the Greater Bay Area, and at the geometric center of the Guangzhou-Foshan node, Sanlongwan is surrounded by major transportation infrastructure within a one-hour radius, including airports, high-speed railways, intercity railways, and expressways. It takes 8 minutes to reach Guangzhou South Railway Station, 40 minutes to reach Shenzhen, 50 minutes to reach Hong Kong, and 60 minutes to reach Zhuhai and Macau. With 10 railway routes under construction and in planning, it is considered as a convenient area in Foshan with the most densest railway transit. The efficient and convenient internal and external channels lay a solid foundation for the free flow of talents, capital, information, and technology.

Industry advantages. The five towns (streets) in Sanlongwan are all listed  among the top 100 towns nationwide in terms of comprehensive strength . In 2018, the value added of advanced equipment manufacturing in Sanlongwan was approximately 28 billion yuan, accounting for about 10% of the value added of advanced equipment manufacturing in the industrial belt on the west bank of the Pearl River. The surrounding areas of Sanlongwan have a solid foundation in high-tech industries. Chancheng, Nanhai, and Shunde are the areas with the highest output value of technology-intensive industries in Foshan. The southern part has world-renowned Fortune 500 companies such as Midea and Country Garden, as well as high-quality enterprises like Keda Clean Energy, Shenling Air Conditioning. The northern part, Guicheng Sanshan New City, has gathered a group of innovative enterprises represented by Nanhua Instruments, Xinglian Precision, and Guangte Electric. With the establishment of Jihua Laboratory in Sanshan New City, the aggregation of research and innovation resources will be further accelerated.

Thriving modern service industry. Sanlongwan provides regional productive services like business services at Guangzhou South Railway Station, exhibition services in Tanzhou Convention and Exhibition Center, and financial services at Qiandenghu Lake. The development of Foshan Tanzhou International Covention and Exhibition Center has significantly boosted Foshan’s economic and social progress. Foshan ranks first in the “2022 China Urban Exhibition Industry Competitiveness Index Report”, with Tanzhou Exhibition leading the way as a key driver of the city’s exhibition industry development.

Distinctive features of open collaboration. Sanlongwan has established tight cooperation and exchange with Hong Kong and Macau enterprises, and embraced active innovation and entrepreneurship activities for Hong Kong and Macao youth. The Sino-German Industrial Service Zone in the region is one of the strategic cooperation platforms in Guangdong Province. The Sino-German Industrial City Alliance has become a prominent symbol of exchange and cooperation between important industrial cities in China and Germany. Currently, there are 47 member cities (27 from China, 20 from Germany), with significant projects aligning with Germany’s Industry 4.0 gradually taking shape, paving the way for a distinctive path in Sino-German cooperation.

Abundant natural ecological resources. Sanlongwan is located in the central area of the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration, in the densely networked region between the Pearl River and Beijiang River. Surrounded by Pingzhou Waterway, Tanzhou Waterway, and Shunde Waterway, it forms a 60-kilometer emerald belt encircling Sanlongwan. The area and its surroundings include several water source protection zones, with the distribution of basic farmland, wetland parks, water source protection zones, and fishponds. Particularly noteworthy is the Chencun Flower World in the central part of the agglomeration, covering an area of 1600 hectares. It is a rare area in the urban agglomeration with well-equipped fundamental elements of “mountains, water, forests, fields, lakes, and culture”.

Well-established city facilitied. Sanlongwan is surrounded by complete urban infrastructure, which has Guangzhou South Railway Station Business District at the east,Foshan New City at the west, and Beijiao New City at the south. Additionally, it is 4.5 kilometers away from Qiandeng Lake in Nanhai and 5.5 kilometers away from Lingnan Tiandi. Those regions has made remarkable achievements. Foshan New City, as a demonstration area for China-EU urbanization cooperation has won the China-EU Green and Smart City Excellence Award. Qiandeng Lake, known as the Guangdong Financial High-Tech Zone, has won the Global City Open Space Grand Award. Meanwhile, Lingnan Tiandi is an exemplary integration of historical and modern elements, and Beijiao New City is one of China’s first batch of characteristic towns. The region has high-quality facilities such as Sanshan Forest Park, Wenhan Lake Park, Banyue Island Wetland Park, Foshan International Sports Culture and Performing Arts Center, Century Lotus Sports Center, Foshan Women and Children’s Hospital, Foshan LEH International School, Majestic International School, etc., creating a livable and business-friendly urban community.