Few people may think it possible. Even fewer may think it could happen in a megacity in South China, the heartland of China's booming industrial and manufacturing economies. But Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, has done it: The provincial capital has managed to achieve the perfect combination of industrial development with local ecological protection.

At China State Shipbuilding Corporation's Longxue Shipyard, one of three massive shipyards in China and the largest modernized ship-building company in South China, reporters were given a handful of impressive statistics on the shipyard.

• The shipyard comes with two large dry-docks, four 600-ton gantry cranes and four berths. It covers an area of 2.53 million square meters (can you imagine that?).

• The shipyard can build ships that can carry a total of 3.5 million tons every year (but it doesn't).

• The company built its first ship in less than two years (from early 2008 to late 2009). It can carry 308,000 tons. To date, the shipyard has built ships that can carry a total of more than 1.3 million tons.

These facts are important because they help promote an industrial upgrade for Guangdong. They also escalate the level of China's shipbuilding industry and make China a major, powerful shipbuilding nation.

China's shipbuilding industry is even getting attention from China's central government, which is paying "great attention" to its development. Word on the street is that Premiere Wen Jiabao visited this very shipyard in November 2008 and thought "highly" of its developmental momentum and contribution to the national economy.

Just 10 kilometers away from the Longxue Shipyard, quiet and lush green, is the Nansha Wetland Park. Located at the southern tip of the city at the mouth of the Pearl River, it is an important stop for tens of thousands of migratory birds every winter. The park is currently undergoing construction to make it tourist-friendly and environmentally friendly. Its principle is, "Focus on ecological protection along with certain tourism development."

Given the proximity between the giant industrial shipyard and the forestry wildlife refuge, it can only be concluded that Guangzhou has achieved the perfect combination of industrial development and ecological protection, together contributing to the city's growth.

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