Chinese business leaders poised to expand presence across Caribbean

Government officials and business leaders are confident that Jamaica's rapid urbanization and industrialization, coupled with its English-speaking population and strategic location in the Caribbean region, will draw more Chinese companies looking to expand their market presence in the island nation.

They also said Chinese companies operating in Jamaica or planning to invest there, especially manufacturers, will continue to set up new plants, establish service-related facilities and seek to grab more market share in their respective industries, including infrastructure development, telecommunications, retail and manufacturing.

Stressing that international development cooperation has always been a key area for China to develop relations with Caribbean countries, Chen Daojiang, Chinese ambassador to Jamaica, said Jamaica was the first country in the region to establish a strategic partnership with China and the first Caribbean economy to sign the plan on jointly promoting Belt and Road Initiative cooperation.

Chen said the JISCO Alpart Bauxite Upgrading and Expanding Project, contracted and funded by Chinese companies, will strengthen infrastructure construction, create more jobs and promote economic growth for Jamaica, where many Chinese-built projects have become symbols of mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.

China Harbor Engineering Co, a subsidiary of State-owned China Communications Construction Co, has been heading in that direction.

The Beijing-headquartered engineering contractor had undertaken nearly 20 projects in Jamaica by the end of 2022, making great contributions to local economic growth and social development.

With a combined investment of $2 billion, they involve multiple fields including highways, ports, airports and logistic centers.

The Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project, or SCHIP, started construction in 2019 as the first China-Jamaica collaborative project since Jamaica began participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, said Chen Zhong, CCCC's vice-president.

Fang Qiuchen, president of the Beijing-based China International Contractors Association, which helps Chinese companies facilitate new business in overseas markets, said Chinese companies are capable of coordinating financing for projects through Chinese institutions such as the Export-Import Bank of China, China Development Bank or even their cash-rich parent companies. "They do not generally seek sovereign guarantees when working with local partners, especially in regional markets such as the Caribbean, Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe," Fang said.

Eager to seize a greater market share, Huawei Technologies, the Shenzhen, Guangdong province-based technology company, announced its intent to invest $300 million in Jamaica last year, according to information released by the Chinese embassy in Kingston, and Xue Feng, Huawei's vice-president for the Latin American region, said the company is committed to continued growth and development there. In addition to helping the country train more IT engineers, Huawei has assisted Jamaica's wireless environmental growth from GSM (global system for mobile communications) to UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system) technology and continues to improve its data penetration with LTE (long-term evaluation) deployments.

Tao Naijie, head of the Caribbean branch of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Co, one of the country's largest truck manufacturers by sales revenue, said the company will strengthen its dealership network in Jamaica and accelerate promotion of new vehicles, such as cold-chain trucks powered by hydrogen fuel cells and electric light trucks and vans. "The truck market is usually seen as a barometer of the macroeconomy, since it reflects the scale of commodity flow, regional trade and infrastructure development," said Tao, who is in charge of the group's sales in Caribbean countries, including Jamaica, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago.