Zhenhai District

Zhenhai 镇海区
District
Clockwise from the top: Zhaobao Hill, Zhenhai Harbor Area, Anyuan Fort, Ningbobang Museum, Zhenhai Skyline Clockwise from the top: Zhaobao Hill, Zhenhai Harbor Area, Anyuan Fort, Ningbobang Museum, Zhenhai Skyline
Zhenhai District in Ningbo Municipality Zhenhai District in Ningbo Municipality
Ningbo Municipality in China
Country	China
Province	Zhejiang
Prefecture	Ningbo
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Website	www.zh.gov.cn

Zhenhai (simplified Chinese: 镇海区; traditional Chinese: 鎮海區; pinyin: Zhènhǎi Qū; Wade–Giles: Chen-Hai) is a district of Ningbo prefecture-level city, Zhejiang, and also a town within that district. Located at the mouth of the Yong River 12 miles (19 km) north-east of Ningbo proper, the town of Zhenhai lies at the foot of Zhaobao Hill on a tongue of land. It is partly protected from the sea to the north by a dike about 3 miles (4.8 km) long, composed entirely of large blocks of granite.

The Zhenhai district has a population of 200,000. Its jurisdiction encompasses towns, townships and street committees.

The British captured Zhenhai on 10 October 1841 during the First Opium War. The Zhenhai Coastal Battery was the site of the Battle of Zhenhai (1885) in the Sino-French War.

Air pollution

Zhenhai has suffered severe long-term air pollution mainly emanating from the Ningbo Petro-Chemical Economic and Technical Development Zone built on its eastern coast. The zone is home to nearly 200 chemical plants including Zhenhai Refining and Chemical Corporation (ZRCC),a subsidiary of Sinopec and the largest oil refinery in China, LG-Yongxing, the largest ABS plastic producer in China and Zhenhai Port Liquid Chemical Dock, the largest liquid chemical dock in China. In September, 2007, 400 tones of acrylonitrile leaked from the LG-Yongxing plant and polluted air and underground water around adjacent areas. In late April, 2012, three million bees died in an orchard in Xiepu Town next to the Petro-Chemical Zone because of pollutants discharged by a chemical plant. Research has shown that the ratio of deaths from cancer in Zhenhai rose significantly between 2007 and 2009.

From May 16 to 17, 2002, residents in Zhenhai launched protests against environmental degradation caused by the chemical industry, blocking the district's traffic on its main streets. In October, 2012, angry people staged demonstrations against a giant petro-chemical project scheduled by ZRCC and clashed with police. The 50 billion yuan ($8 billion) integrated investment project, according to some reports, will affect more than 9800 households. Many argue that the environment in Zhenhai has been tremendously overloaded and the new project will bring even more harm to the ecosystem.

Notable individuals

• Hu Zongnan
• Run Run Shaw
• Yang Fujia
• Ye Chengzhong

References

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: