The Qingdao Implementation Scheme on Constructing the Chinese Experimental Plot of Cruise Tourism Development was issued last week.

    According to the scheme, by 2018, comprehensive planning of the Qingdao International Cruise Port will be completed, the construction of infrastructure and supporting facilities will be further improved, and the port will strive to realize annually 200 cruise voyages inbound and outbound and over 0.3 million person times of tourists inbound and outbound, the Qingdao International Cruise Port will edge itself into the Chinese important international cruise ports and Qingdao will be built into a central cruise city in northern China. By 2020, the planned goals in the cruise plot will be basically accomplished, the cruise economic pattern characterized by sound industrial system, well-regulated service and management and remarkable social and economic effects, the port will endeavor to realize 400 cruise voyages annually inbound and outbound and over 0.6 million person times of tourists inbound and outbound, the cruise tourism development mode with unique Qingdao characteristics will be established and the port will be built into an international cruise home port in northeast Asia.

    The scheme has proposed to complete service facilities in the cruise plot, improve traffic evacuation conditions and realize convenient transport connection between the cruise port and airport, railway, highway, main streets in downtown, subway and main tourism spots in the city. In addition, the experimental plot will gather various enterprises and institutions ranging from cruise port service, supporting cruise service, financial service, land and water tourism, shipping agency to cruise equipment technological research and development. It will establish cruise supply bonded processing area, construct high-standard commercial premises, and introduce duty-free shops.

    In terms of diversifying cruise tourism products, as Qingdao consolidates the currently shipping routes to Japan and South Korea, it will speed up to develop many shipping routes originating from Qingdao to Taiwan, China, North Korea and far east area and gradually extend to medium and long distance routes to Hong Kong, China, and Southeast Asia.

    Qingdao will accelerate to develop a whole industrial chain integrating cruise design and building, cruise operation, cruise port reception and management, and to accomplish independent design and building as soon as possible and to set up local cruise companies. Qingdao will also strive to attract international cruise companies, international cruise organizations or associations to set up regional headquarters in Qingdao.

    Moreover Qingdao will actively strive for the permission policy on cruise routes without specific destinations. According to the policy, cruise companies are allowed to operate cruise tourism routes without any specific destination by taking Qingdao Port as the cruise homeport. Fu Jun (Photo: the aerial view of Qingdao Cruise Home Port City)

    Qingdao will build up the national marine science center

    Last week, the Qingdao Municipality proposed the new goals of technological innovation for this year. It strives to realize the goals within the year that the whole society research and development expenditure will account for 2.87% of GDP, the number of invention patent application granted will reach 6,800, the number of new and high-tech enterprises will reach 1,600, and the total technology contractual value will exceed 12 billion Yuan.

    In terms of embracing national strategies, Qingdao will speed up the construction of the state marine lab, activate the constriction of national large-scale complex of technological facilities including ocean drilling vessels and comprehensive marine testing ground, cooperate with the Chinese State Oceanic Administration to co-construct manned submersible. Qingdao will further combine marine technological resources Qingdao has and strive to build up the national marine science center.

    Meanwhile Qingdao will speed up its pace of constructing the National High Speed Train Technological Innovation Center, gradually form complete technological innovation system and industrial complex in high speed train and railway transportation equipment and exert all the efforts to build itself into a globally influential high speed train innovation highland.

    In terms of constructing incubators, Qingdao will strive to build 20 municipal level or above mass entrepreneurial spaces and incubator construction professional technology platforms to provide services to 5,000 pioneering enterprises.

    In terms of the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, Qingdao will vigorously push forward the construction of National Marine Technology Transfer Center, National Patent Technology (Qingdao) Transaction Center and endeavor to build itself into the national demonstration area in the transformation of scientific and technological achievements.

    In addition, within the year Qingdao will construct and invigorate 3 to 5 new and high-tech industrial bases with remarkable competitiveness, cultivate 3 to 5 innovation-based industrial clusters and actively strive to build itself into the national clinical medicine research center and national demonstration area in sustainable development. Wang Ping

    The national level marine fishery biological genetic resources pool will settle down in Qingdao

    The national project of marine fishery biological genetic resources pool has been approved to settle down in Qingdao and the construction will commence at the end of this year.

    This is the Chinese largest marine fishery biological genetic resources pool as well as the only approved marine fishery genetic resources pool. After the project is completed, it will mainly exist as the principal Chinese marine fishery biological resources pool and establish branch pools in other Chinese cities to backup resources.

    The project is located inside the Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences. It is planned to construct 5 pools and 2 centers, namely 5 sub-pools including gene pool, cell pool, microorganism pool, living organism pool, and colony pool (specimen) and data processing center and instrument and equipment center, which are equipped to conduct data collection and processing and instrument and equipment sharing for the construction and operation of 5 sub-pools. The project also plans to preserve endangered species, excellent species and successfully breed species to avoid species extinction resulting from various disasters. Wang Ping

    Over a half of Subway Line No.1 cross-sea tunnel have been excavated

    The excavated volume of civil engineering of the cross-sea tunnel of Subway Line No. 1, the first cross-sea rail transit line, has already accounted for 58% of the entire tunnel section project. Among 76 working points, 64 of them have commenced construction and the construction rate is 84%.

    The Subway Line No. 1, 60km long an with 40 underground station, is the only rail transit line connecting the West Coast of Qingdao and central downtown in the recent Qingdao subway planning. The cross-sea tunnel is about 8.1km total, the largest cross-sea subway tunnel in China.

    (Photo: The constructors are welding steels for propping. Taken by Fu Xuejun)