Tianjin, China

Brief History

Tianjin borders Hebei Province and Beijing Municipality and is bounded to the east by the Bohai Gulf portion of the Yellow Sea. Its geographic position at the confluence of the Hai River and the Grand Canal has made it a leading international port of China and a strategic collection and distribution center for the north China plain. It is an important manufacturing center, its major industries being petrochemicals, textiles, car manufacturing, mechanical industries, and metalworking.

Tianjin was called Zhigu (meaning “straight port”) until 1404, when the new Yongle emperor renamed it Tianjin (meaning “heavenly ford”). Agreements exacted from China by the British and French in 1860 made Tianjin a treaty port and conceded parts of it for foreign settlements and garrisons. These Treaties of Tianjin opened it up to foreign trade. Between 1895 and 1900, Britain and France were joined by Japan, Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Belgium in establishing self-contained concessions in Tianjin. In 1937, as part of the Sino-Japanese War, Tianjin became partially occupied by the Japanese. This lasted until 1945, when Japan surrendered in World War II. The foreign concessions within Tianjin were abolished in 1946, when Tianjin was restored to Chinese sovereignty.

Along with other coastal provinces, Tianjin was designated a Special Economic Zone in 1985, part of the second wave of Deng Xiao Ping's so-called opening up policies in order to increase foreign trade and investment. Special Economic Zones are allowed to utilize an economic management system especially conducive to doing international business. [Page 913]They gain tax incentives for foreign investments and have greater independence in international trade activities.

In the 21st century, Tianjin is governed as a directly controlled municipality, one of four such designations. It therefore comes under direct administration of the central government. Tianjin City is the sixth-largest in China, and the municipality had a population of approximately 12 million in 2009. Almost 10 million of these inhabitants were permanent residents in Tianjin, of whom around 6 million were urban and almost 4 million rural. Most were from the Han Chinese majority.

Tianjin's Waste Industry

China has been developing economically at an astounding rate since the “opening up” policies of the late 1970s. This growth has been based on the manufacturing industry and therefore requires high levels of raw materials, making China reliant on imports. Data from Chinese customs statistics for 2004 reveal that China imported 4.1 million tons of waste plastics, 12.3 million tons of used paper, 10.22 million tons of scrap iron, 3.95 million tons of copper scrap, and 1.2 million tons of aluminum scrap that year. These materials are melted down and used by Chinese manufacturers to make new products. The waste industry is therefore crucial to the continued success of China's manufacturing-based economy. In fact, many container ships bringing goods to the United States and Europe return to China carrying waste from those countries.

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