Belt and Road Initiative boosts Shaanxi's trade links with South Korea

Shaanxi province, at the start of the ancient Silk Road in northwestern China, has been attracting billions of dollars worth of new investment, much of which is from South Korea, which top officials say is largely down to the country's pivotal role in the Belt and Road Initiative.

According to Zhang Xiaoning, deputy secretary-general of Shaanxi provincial government, during the recent 5-day Silk Road International Exposition held in provincial capital Xi'an, the authorities signed contracts worth $11.7 billion with foreign partners, and 681 billion yuan ($104 billion) with domestic investors.

Despite a slowing domestic economy and weak global demand, Zhang said the scale and scope of those deals is significant.

"They involve sectors including equipment manufacturing, trading services, energy-saving, tourism, new energy, high and new technology and medical treatment," he said.

"But it's also worth mentioning that China and South Korea signed contracts worth a total 32 billion yuan, which is much higher than previous years."

Attending the Xi'an expo, Woo Jeong-hwan, director of South Korea's Trade-Investment Promotion Agency in China, said 70 percent of all cooperative projects between the province and South Korea now involve electronics-related activity.

"As the Belt and Road Initiative deepens, the related service industries will see growth," he said. "It's my third visit to Xi'an and I love the city.

"The rich technology and talent resources of the local electronic sector are the major reasons for South Korean companies to come and invest in Xi'an."

South Korea is now Shaanxi's third-largest trade partner and volumes have been growing steadily since the electronics giant Samsung Corp invested $7 billion in a semiconductor chips factory in Xi'an in 2012.

Boosted by that spend, and the free-trade agreement signed in June last year between the two nations, Woo said he is confident the contribution of that accord to both the Shaanxi and South Korean economies will continue to grow.

By late last year, South Korea had invested $5.6 billion in 244 projects in Shaanxi, accounting for around 19 percent of the province's total foreign investment.

Zhou Weiqian, deputy chief of Xi'an Customs, said the China-South Korea FTA had helped Chinese people enjoy Korean products such as cosmetics, electronic appliances and foods more conveniently.

"The government has cut approval processes and simplified the customs clearance procedures between South Korea and China," he said.

dujuan@chinadaily.com.cn