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China

Tianjin turns former machine-tool and textile factories into cultural and business spaces

2026-11-15

Disused industrial building in Guadix, Spain, illustrating factory heritage; this is not a Tianjin factory or a completed Chinese renewal project.

Former factories in Tianjin are being adapted for museums, restaurants, shops and leisure as the city tries to preserve industrial buildings while finding new uses for them. Two projects illustrate the approach: Jinyi Park on the site of the former Tianjin No 1 Machine Tool Works, and a former textile factory redeveloped as the Tianjin Sezhi Factory tourism and leisure block.

The machine-tool factory in Hedong district was established in 1951 and belonged to a group of eighteen major state-owned enterprises associated with China's machinery industry. It produced the country's first independently developed all-gear transmission lathe. After production moved, the site gradually became disused before the renewal project began in 2023.

Restoration extends beyond the factory boundary

The approximately 730,000-square-metre project includes the former factory compound and fifteen surrounding residential communities. More than twenty industrial buildings have been retained and renovated. Original brickwork, wooden floors, staircases and other details have been restored, with machinery, overhead cranes and industrial components incorporated into the redesigned spaces.

The site now offers a machine-tool industry museum, interactive exhibits, cafes and activities linked to its manufacturing past. A building formerly used to house Soviet experts has been converted into a cafe. These are examples of reuse rather than a claim that the original factory has resumed production.

In Xiqing district, the former textile factory opened its renewed tourism and leisure block in May. It recorded around two million visits during its first three months of trial operation. About one hundred businesses now use 15,000 square metres of renovated space for dining, cafes, creative retail and cultural experiences. The visitor figure is a count of visits, not necessarily two million different people.

Tianjin's 2026-2030 urban-renewal plan identifies 215 renewal areas and twenty-six key tasks. Reusing idle industrial premises and protecting industrial heritage are among its priorities. Local officials describe this as a way to reconnect neighbourhood life with industrial history, while the individual projects show the practical mix of preservation, commerce and public use.

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