Since 1997, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM, the former Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade) started a comprehensive appraisal on investment
environment of all national-level development zones which covers eight major indicators like overall economic strength, infrastructure, operation cost, human resources and supply, society and environment, facilitation for technology innovation, management system building, and development and efficiency. For 12 years in a row, TEDA topped the list. It fully deserves the title as the hottest investment spot in China and the Asia-Pacific at large. In 2006, the development and opening-up of Tianjin Binhai New Area (hereinafter referred to as the TBNA) was officially written into China's Eleventh Five-year Plan, indicating that the entire region has been recognized as the country's third economic eigine after Shenzhen and Shanghai and entities.