China Paper Corp and Chenming Group also have massive paper-making projects in Zhanjiang.

The city government plans to create a 50 square kilometer petrochemical industrial park and a 30 sq km steel industry clustering park in Zhanjiang Economic and Technological Development Zone, which includes Donghai Island, Wang said.

Apart from the sectors along the industrial chains of the two mega projects, sectors expected to receive a boost also include port logistics, financial services, commerce and real estate.

The gross domestic product of the city, which is in the less developed western part of Guangdong, is expected to double from last year to hit 400 billion yuan in 2017 and grow further to 600 billion yuan in 2020. The government aims to achieve 12 percent GDP growth and 25 percent increase in fixed-asset investment this year.

To facilitate investment, the government has focused on upgrading the transport network, with more highways and roads being built, Wang said.

As part of this, a relocated airport is expected to open in 2017. The construction of the remaining Shenzhen-Maoming section of the high-speed railway linking Shenzhen in the Pearl River Delta and Zhanjiang started in June.

It is expected to be completed in 2017 and will reduce traveling time between the two cities to two hours.

The construction of the high-speed railway between Zhanjiang and Hepu county in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region is expected to start later this year. The cargo throughput at Zhanjiang port stood at 180 million tons last year and is expected to hit 300 million tons in 2016. The port handled 387,000 twenty foot equivalent units in the first nine months of this year, more than the total volume last year.

The major projects in the city are expected to help the port reclaim its ranking as one of the country's top 10 ports. Zhanjiang's 2023.6-km coastline and ocean area of more than 20,000 sq km means it has natural berths deep enough to carry 300,000-ton vessels and plans are in place to raise the capacity to 400,000 tons.

The steel and petrochemical projects are estimated to create hundreds of thousands of jobs when they go into full swing, Wang said.

In July, more than 664 people, including farmers living on Donghai Island, were recruited for a training scheme, which included a trip to Baosteel's headquarters in Shanghai, to work at the new steel complex.

Zhanjiang, which has a population of about 8 million, is expected to achieve an urbanization rate of 60 percent in the coming decade from the current less than 40 percent.

The central urban area of the city will double to 300 square kilometers by 2020.