Tianjin eco-city, once a wasteland of northern China, is today a new type of green city thanks to a decade’s joint effort by China and Singapore, People’s Daily reported on Tuesday.

The bilateral cooperation project between Singapore and China kicked off in 2008 on a 30 square kilometers area of wasteland in Tianjin, home to nothing but saline wasteland, salt marshes and polluted waters, with the aim of co-constructing a new model city featuring an earth-friendly environment and social harmony.

After ten years of cooperation, the eco-city, China’s first green development demonstration zone, has taken on a new look. Instead of sewage, marshes and wasteland, people can see the clear river, with greenery flourishing on the saline land.

By 2020, the green coverage rate in this area is expected to reach no less than 50 percent, and the eco-city will achieve 100 percent harmless waste disposal.

In addition, the ecological system in the Tianjin eco-city provides space for living, production and eco-development, integrating industrial and urban development.

The city hosts a variety of leading tech and commerce enterprises such as Huawei, Tencent and Jingdong, new industries such as smart technology and big data, alongside a number of start-up companies, setting an example of sustainable and integrated development.

A group of experts from across the globe gathered near the wasteland and made the world’s first set of 26 standards regarding eco-cities, stating that an eco-city requires 100-percent green buildings, 90 percent environmentally-friendly driving and no less than 20-percent utilization of recyclable energy.

Under the guide of standard mechanism, the Tianjin eco-city piloted new ideas of green development so as to find a solution for other cities across China and indeed the world.