ASEAN cooperation forms pillar of intl trade

As one of the key cities in the country's Belt and Road Initiative and an important gateway to Southeast Asia, Zhanjiang has made significant strides in its economic relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations members, according to local officials.

In a recent media interview, Zhanjiang Mayor Wang Zhongbing said the city and ASEAN members share geographical proximity, cultural links and similarities in climate and industries.

Resources on both sides are complementary and mutually beneficial, while Zhanjiang and the region share similar development goals and interests.

Cooperation between Zhanjiang and ASEAN features two-way opening-up and creates huge business opportunities, with traditional trade relations standing as the foundation of exchanges between the two sides, he said.

As a key region in the cooperation between Guangdong province and ASEAN, Zhanjiang prioritizes cooperation between ports, trade and cultural exchanges, he said.

Fruit from ASEAN, for example, can be shipped to Zhanjiang within 30 hours and from there, distributed to the rest of the country.

Since the establishment of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area in 2010, trade between Zhanjiang and ASEAN increased by 18.6 percent annually on average, from $431 million in 2011 to $795 million in 2015, according to the city's commerce bureau.

The bureau said ASEAN is the largest market for Zhanjiang's exports and the second-largest trading partner of the city, with Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand as its top three ASEAN partners.

The region has become the largest destination for investment from Zhanjiang, with 11 companies already investing in the area, involving combined investment of $634 million.

The bureau said Zhanjiang-invested projects in ASEAN are mainly focused on aquaculture feed production, poultry and cattle feed processing, sugar cane farming, sugar processing and education, banking on the city's strengths in these sectors.

For instance, Zhanjiang-based Evergreen Group invested in a fodder company in Indonesia, pledging $654,500.

Companies from ASEAN have invested in 20 projects in Zhanjiang, including aquatic food processing, farming and fodder production, according to the bureau.

The Zhanjiang government has established economic and trade offices in several ASEAN countries and beyond, including Cambodia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Germany and Russia.

This year has seen a memorandum signed between Zhanjiang and Thailand's Trade Development Commission of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, for the building of a Zhanjiang-ASEAN agricultural product wholesale and display center in Zhanjiang.

The Thai commission has launched a representative office in the Fenyong Economic Zone in Zhanjiang. The Fenyong ASEAN Industrial Park - part of the economic zone - serves as the only industrial park in Guangdong province dedicated to cooperation with ASEAN nations.

Indonesia and Thailand sent their delegations and set up national pavilions at the Zhanjiang-ASEAN Agriculture Trade Fair and the China International Aquatic Products Exposition held in Zhanjiang earlier this year.

In addition to shipping lines connecting Zhanjiang and seven ASEAN member countries, an air route between Zhanjiang and Bangkok was launched last year and air routes to Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh City are expected to be opened soon.

As a new mechanism for enhancing foreign trade, especially with ASEAN countries, the port of Zhanjiang has gained approval from the central government for importing fruit and grain.

Zhanjiang has launched a bonded logistics center and an exit-entry courier supervision center to facilitate crossborder e-commerce, with the latter processing 660,700 deliveries between November 2015 and June 2016, according the Zhanjiang commerce bureau.

(China Daily 11/24/2016 page12)