Hebei harnesses coastal advantages for economic growth

North China's Hebei province will fully leverage the advantages of its coastal areas and others to vigorously propel the province towards a new chapter of economic and social development, according to the province's top officials.

Hebei is adjacent to the Bohai Sea, boasting 487 kilometers of coastline and governing over 7,200 square kilometers of sea area, according to a report by Xinhua Daily Telegraph published on Wednesday.

The province is home to three coastal cities - Qinhuangdao, Tangshan and Cangzhou - along the Bohai Bay.

"We have continuously optimized the layout of the ports' functions, improving the integrated transportation system and deepening coordination with the hinterland," Ni Yuefeng, secretary of the Hebei Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, said in an article published in October in Study Times.

He also said the province had promoted cost reduction and efficiency improvement of port services, opened up container shipping routes globally and vigorously developed ocean shipping.

As of November, the total cargo throughput of ports in Hebei reached 1.27 billion metric tons, ranking fourth among coastal provinces in the country. The coal throughput of coastal ports in Hebei reached 640 million tons, ranking top nationwide, according to Xinhua Daily Telegraph's report.