Hai Phong - Heroic City

Hai Phong has continuously recorded one of the highest GRDP growth rates in the country, becoming an attractive destination for domestic and foreign investors. Photo: Hong Phong

Glorious history

Hai Phong is the land of “the head of the waves, the wind”, the “fence” in the East of the Fatherland, with a strategic position in the entire process of national construction and defense. The port city has many important river mouths flowing into the sea with more than 300 large and small islands, of which Cat Ba, Long Chau and Bach Long Vi islands hold important positions in the Gulf of Tonkin.

Looking back at its history, from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, as the "Great Port of Bac Ky", an important traffic hub on the international maritime route and an industrial center, Hai Phong became one of the cradles marking the birth of the working class and the Vietnamese workers' movement fighting against the oppression of French colonialism.

Therefore, Hai Phong was one of the centers of the revolutionary movement of the whole country during the revolutionary peaks of 1930-1931, 1936-1939 and 1939-1945. During the peak of the resistance against Japan to save the country, Hai Phong - Kien An was where the Viet Minh movement developed strongly. On July 12, 1945, the people of Kim Son (Kien Thuy) rose up to fight against Japan and won. The sound of the drums of Kim Son opened the process of partial uprisings, leading to a general uprising to seize power in the August Revolution of 1945 in the coastal region of the North.

After the success of the August Revolution, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was born. However, the French colonialists had the ambition to use force to re-establish their domination over our country. On November 20, 1946, the resistance war against the French colonialists broke out in Hai Phong. The entire Party, army and people of Hai Phong - Kien An successfully waged a comprehensive people's war right in the deep enemy-occupied area, achieved many outstanding feats, created the tradition of "heroic Route 5", "rival Route 10", "fiery Cat Bi"..., contributed worthily to the historic victory of Dien Bien Phu "famous in five continents, shaking the world", forcing the French colonialists to sign the Geneva Agreement to end the war and restore peace in Indochina.

After the city was liberated (May 13, 1955), Hai Phong continued to affirm and build itself into the only international seaport, an industrial center, a "steel fortress" on the East Sea coast of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Hai Phong City is proud to be the place where the movement to build a socialist labor team started from the Cement Factory, the "Duyen Hai wave" emulation movement from the Duyen Hai Mechanical Factory, and was honored to have been visited by President Ho Chi Minh 9 times.

In the early 1960s, Hai Phong took the lead in contributing to the rise of a vibrant patriotic emulation movement throughout the North, such as “Duyen Hai waves, Dai Phong wind, Ba Nhat flag, Bac Ly drum”. During the years of resistance against the US to save the country, Hai Phong was the gateway to receive international aid and the starting point of the “Ho Chi Minh Trail at sea”. With its particularly important position, during the two wars to destroy the North by air force and navy, Hai Phong was a fierce focal point. Then, for 12 days and nights in 1972, the port city and the capital Hanoi established the heroic Dien Bien Phu battle in the air.

When summarizing the two resistance wars, many factories, enterprises, ports, units, neighborhoods, districts, communes, wards, towns and individuals were commended and awarded the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces by the Party and State.

By 1980, Hai Phong had Resolution 24 of the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee on product contracting in agriculture. This was a "fence-breaking" policy at that time. And Hai Phong successfully implemented this model with the Doan Xa Cooperative (Kien Thuy district), and not long after, the Secretariat issued Directive No. 100, recognizing product contracting and applying the contracting regime in the entire agricultural sector of the country. Since then, Vietnam has not only ensured food security, but also quickly become a major rice exporting country in the world.

Since the country's reunification, especially in the renovation process initiated and led by the Party, promoting the spirit of dynamism and creativity, Hai Phong has always been one of the leading localities in implementing the two strategic tasks of building and defending the Fatherland. Hai Phong created the contracting mechanism in agriculture, the motto of mass mobilization work "people know, people discuss, people inspect", the movement of "eradicating thatched houses and earthen walls"..., determined to "dig canals to reclaim land from the sea to open up a new future".

Hai Phong - worthy of the title Heroic City

Mr. Le Tien Chau, Secretary of the Hai Phong City Party Committee, said that in the past nearly two decades, the Politburo has issued two important resolutions, including Resolution No. 32-NQ/TW, dated August 5, 2003 on "Building and developing Hai Phong city in the period of industrialization and modernization of the country"; Resolution No. 45-NQ/TW, dated January 24, 2019 on "Building and developing Hai Phong city to 2030, with a vision to 2045", creating the foundation for Hai Phong to continue to rise to new heights.

With its strategic location, Hai Phong is the international trade gateway of the North, directly connected to global shipping routes through the Lach Huyen deep-water seaport system. In addition, modern transport infrastructure such as the Hanoi - Hai Phong expressway, Cat Bi International Airport, Bach Dang Bridge... have created favorable conditions for the City to make a breakthrough in attracting investment and developing the regional economy.

We have the right to be proud of having carried out Uncle Ho's advice when he visited Hai Phong on October 20-21, 1946: "With everyone working together, Hai Phong City will certainly become a model city of the whole country."

- Mr. Nguyen Van Tung, Chairman of Hai Phong City People's Committee

Hai Phong is identified by the Politburo as the main gateway to the sea of ​​the Northern provinces, the driving force for the development of the Northern region and the whole country; developing according to the model of "Multi-center urban area and satellite cities", with the spatial structure of Two belts - Three corridors - Three centers and satellite cities. In terms of national defense and security, Hai Phong City is located on the strategic defense direction of Military Region 3 from the sea to the capital Hanoi.

In recent years, Hai Phong has continuously recorded the highest GRDP growth rate in the country, becoming an attractive destination for domestic and foreign investors. Industrial parks such as DEEP C, Nam Dinh Vu, Trang Due... have attracted a series of large corporations such as LG, Pegatron..., contributing to the economic restructuring towards modernity and sustainability.

The scale of the economy has consistently maintained the second position in the Red River Delta, after the capital Hanoi. The scale in 2024 will reach more than 119,000 billion VND, ranking 3rd in the country and 2.34 times higher than in 2020, 3.4 times higher than in 2015 and 5.16 times higher than in 2010. It is the only locality in the country to grow at double digits for 10 consecutive years. With a growth rate of 11.01% in 2024, 1.55 times higher than the national average. The period 2021 - 2024 will reach 11.53%/year, 1.63 times higher than the period 2011 - 2015 (7.08%/year).

The City's economic structure continues to shift towards reducing the proportion of agriculture, forestry and fishery, increasing the proportion of industry and construction. Industry and services develop strongly, shifting towards modernization. Focus on perfecting economic components, associated with green transformation, digital transformation and high-tech application.

Not only developing the economy, the City also focuses on building a green, modern urban area, improving the quality of life for the people. Projects on digital transformation, building e-government and smart cities are being strongly implemented, gradually turning Hai Phong into one of the model cities in the 4.0 industrial era.

Not only that, Hai Phong City always emphasizes and attaches importance to preserving and promoting the value of traditional cultural heritages that are characteristic of Hai Phong. By 2024, the whole city will have 565 relics ranked at all levels; 12 intangible cultural heritages, 1 world natural heritage Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago recognized by UNESCO, along with many other typical heritages.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tung, Chairman of Hai Phong City People's Committee, excitedly shared: "Tomorrow, Hai Phong will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the City's Liberation Day, on the historic anniversary (May 13, 1955 - May 13, 2025). This is an opportunity for the leaders and people of the Port City, the Red Flamboyant City to look back and evaluate the extremely glorious achievements in the past."

Hai Phong is standing on the threshold of deep integration and comprehensive digital transformation. That is a breakthrough development in many important areas, from economic space, growth model to infrastructure, regional planning and city planning, from urban modernization to new rural construction. All towards 2030, with a vision to 2050, the Port City will not only be the growth engine of the North, but also aim to become the leading port city in Asia. Steady steps on the journey of modernization and sustainability will help Hai Phong affirm its pioneering role, making an important contribution to the country's development in the new era, worthy of the title of Heroic City.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/hai-phong---thanh-pho-anh-hung-d281757.html