Recently, National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and Civil Aviation Administration of China issued Reply on Supporting Guangzhou Airport Economic Demonstration Zone (Fa Gai Di Qu [2016] No. 2810) to approve Guangzhou’s establishment of Airport Economic Demonstration Zone(AEDZ). The planned AEDZ, with the east border at the Liuxi River, the south border at Xinshi Road, the west border at Tieshan River-No. 106 National Highway-Jinghu Avenue and the north border at Huadu Avenue, covers an area of 135.5 sqkm including airport acreage of 41.64 sqkm.  

In recent years, CPC Guangzhou Committee and Guangzhou Municipal Government have centered on the construction of a national important city, accelerated the construction of hub-type network city, focused on the improvement of global resource distribution ability, intensified functions as three strategic hubs, and concentrated on forging the international aviation hub into the new energy source and growth pole of Guangzhou. Recently, AEDZ is becoming an emerging functional area with improved hub functions, clustering of airport industries and innovated systems and mechanism. Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, located at AEDZ, is one of China’s three international hub airports, and has housed main base aviation companies including China Southern Airlines and 9 Air Company Limited, and more than 70 other aviation companies, opened 136 international air routes to global 216 waypoints including 85 international and regional ones. In 2016, the estimated tourist throughput is nearly 60 million trips, up 8.1% year on year; goods and mails throughput is 1.6383 million tons, up 6.5% year on year; both rank the 3^rd among domestic airports, and rank the 17^th and the 19^th respectively among global airports. AEDZ boasts obvious clustering effect of airport-related industries. STAG Airplane Maintenance G2 Hangar project was completed and accepted. Major projects have successively started construction, including Guangzhou Airport Economic Zone Headquarters Economy Park, China-Australia-Singapore-Korea Free Trade Industrial Zone, Suijia South China Airport-Land Multimodal Transport Terminal, and Baiyun Airport Commercial Aviation Service Base. And 13 enterprises including YT Express and Suning Commerce Group Co.,Ltd.will successively move in. The customs clearance facilitation has been continuously improved, and many reform issues, including smart classification of tourists for convenient customs clearance, Internet+Airport e Pass, E-commerce quality information trace, Three-Ones customs inspection, one-stop operation and interlinked supervision to E-commerce, are driven forward, and exemption of border inspection for international trans-through passengers within 24hrs,and visa exemption for 72hr. trans-through passengers are implemented. It is China’s first airport for the pilot operation of inspection service fee reform.

According to the reply, in terms of development positioning, AEDZ will mainly rely on Baiyun Airport, focus on optimizing development environment, deepen opening-up, cooperation, reform and innovation, abide by the development laws for airport economic development, insist on green development and ecologic priority to stringently carry out environmental protection system, guide and boost the clustering development of modern service and high-end manufacturing industries with great airport characteristics, strive to build an industrial system with aviation transport as the basis and aviation-related industry as the support, drive the integrated and coordinated development of industries and the city, build itself into an international aviation hub, an ecological and smart modern airport zone and an airport system innovation experimental zone, and provide  powerful support for promoting regional economic and social development and economic development mode transformation.

Building AEDZ is an important measure of Guangzhou in carrying out the Outline of the 13^th Five-year Plan, the Belt and Road Initiative and Opinions of the State Council on Promoting Civil Aviation Development. The approval to AEDZ will contribute to improving Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport’s international competitiveness as a global aviation hub, boosting the implementation of Chinese civil aviation’s internationalization strategy, leading the Pearl River Delta’s participation of global industrial division at a higher level and broader scope, exploring new paths for the regional industrial transformation and upgrading driven by aviation economy, and providing important experience on airport economic reform for Guangdong and even the whole country. By 2020, Baiyun Airport will reach 80 million trips in passenger throughput and 2.5 million tons in goods and mail throughput. Main channels and public service system will be generally set up in AEDZ. The ecological environment will be obviously improved. The industries closely related with aviation industry will be accelerated. The position as an aviation hub will be notably improved. By 2025, Baiyun Airport will reach 90 million trips in passenger throughput and 3 million tons in goods and mail throughput. It will be built into an internationally-advanced AEDZ with improved functions, ecological environment and high-end industries to boost Guangzhou’s effort for a national key central city to a higher level.

 

Planned area of AEDZ

The planned AEDZ, with the east border at the Liuxi River, the south border at Xinshi Road, the west border at Tieshan River-No. 106 National Highway-Jinghu Avenue and the north border at Huadu Avenue, covers an area of 135.5 sqkm including airport acreage of 41.64 sqkm.  

Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, located at AEDZ, is one of China’s three international hub airports, and has housed main base aviation companies including China Southern Airlines and 9 Air Company Limited, and more than 70 other aviation companies, opened 136 international air routes to global 216 waypoints including 85 international and regional ones. In 2016, the estimated tourist throughput is nearly 60 million trips, up 8.1% year on year; goods and mails throughput is 1.6383 million tons, up 6.5% year on year; both rank the 3^rd among domestic airports, and rank the 17^th and the 19^th respectively among global airports.

 

Construction situation and outlook of AEDZ

By 2020, Baiyun Airport will reach 80 million trips in passenger throughput and 2.5 million tons in goods and mail throughput. Main channels and public service system will be generally set up in AEDZ. The ecological environment will be obviously improved. The industries closely related with aviation industry will be accelerated. The position as an aviation hub will be notably improved. By 2025, Baiyun Airport will reach 90 million trips in passenger throughput and 3 million tons in goods and mail throughput. It will be built into an internationally-advanced AEDZ with improved functions, ecological environment and high-end industries to boost Guangzhou’s effort for a national key central city to a higher level.

 

Source: Translated from Invest Guangzhou, Jan. 4, 2017