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New hub for Southeast Asia trade

By Xiao Qian (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-11 07:58

A scene of celebrations in marking the 50th anniversary of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region in the capital city Nanning. Photos by Huo Yan

Along the beautiful coastline of South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region a new landscape is emerging to become the next front in China's development.

The Beibu Bay economic zone that mainly targets ASEAN trade and investment in Guangxi, is basking in newfound attention as the center of economic cooperation between China and Southeast Asian countries.

With a population of 12.4 million, the zone covers Guangxi's capital city Nanning, and the three coastal cities of Fangchenggang, Qinzhou and Beihai. It is strategically located as the gateway to ASEAN with both land and sea routes into the region.

Approved by China's government last January, the zone is gaining increasing momentum, with a 46 percent increase in fixed-asset investment and 17 percent in growth in GDP, more than 4 percent higher than the region as a whole.

Financial institutions from home and abroad have started to set up shops in the region to explore opportunities. Guangxi Beibu Bay Bank, a lender specifically targeting the region, was established last October.

China's 11th five-year program for developing its west has placed the Beibu Bay economic zone as one of the region's three economic development zones that have a priority in economic expansion.

Gateway to ASEAN

The Beibu Bay economic zone will be developed into a center of logistics, trade, processing, manufacturing and information exchange between China and ASEAN, according to the plan ratified by the China State Council.

ASEAN is Guangxi's biggest trading partner, generating $2.9 billion last year that accounted for more than one-third of Guangxi's total. Despite the current economic crisis, trade between the two area's still increased by 67 percent in the first nine months of this year, said Ma Biao, governor of Guangxi.

"Under the development plan, Guangxi is to serve as an important region for promoting international economic cooperation," said Ma. "This represents unprecedented opportunities for us to become the next economic belt in China after the Pearl and Yangtze River deltas and Bohai Economic Circle."

In Qinzhou, China's sixth bonded zone is under construction to serve as a free trade port for the ASEAN market. Its first phase of construction is expected to wrap up by the end of next year, while major international logistics companies have already shown keen interest in operating there, according to He Zhen, director of Qinzhou's Beibu Gulf development project.

In the neighboring city Fangchenggang, which aspires to become an international shipping center offering convenient sea routes reaching Southeast Asian countries, shipping is thriving as it rides booming cross-border business.

Home to the biggest port in western China with a designed handling capacity of over 200 million tons a year, Fangchenggang had a throughput of 50 million tons last year and is expected to surpass 60 million tons by the end of this year.

Statistics from the Guangxi regional communications bureau show that ports in Guangxi achieved a total throughput of 72 million tons during the first 10 months of this year, a 21.4 percent increase year-on-year, due largely to the region's accelerated integration with ASEAN.

Following the central government's recent national call to boost the economy by increasing investment, the region announced 300 billion yuan in investment on transport projects in the next five years.

After the projects are completed, Guangxi will have a transport network linking it to neighboring provinces and many ASEAN countries, Ma said during a press conference last month.

With such sharp growth, the China-ASEAN Expo has also expanded quickly. The annual event in Nanning promotes multi-lateral trade between China and ASEAN.

By the fifth expo's closing day on October 25, trade volume had hit $6.52 billion. Total business turnover was nearly $1.6 billion, up 12.18 percent over the previous session.

Environmental protection

Yet Ma said development of these industrial projects will not come at the cost of environmental deterioration. He noted Guangxi should make the best use of its environment so it shall remain the region's major competitive edge.

He said environmental protection ranks high on the government's agenda and serves as an important barometer of the government's decisions.

As the region is on the upper reaches of the Pearl River, it has the responsibility to protect its environment, especially water, from pollution for the common benefit of the neighboring Guangdong and Hong Kong.

"It is our hope that when investors come here they will also like the environment and consider it as an ideal place for settling down," Ma said.