Booming Barcelona lures Chinese investment with prospect of great returns

By Yuan Shenggao | China Daily | Updated: 2018-11-28 07:11

The Port of Barcelona, a top European and international maritime and logistics center and Spain's leading port in terms of the value of goods, is playing a key role in the bilateral trade between southern Europe and China.

With its powerful network of logistics corridors, the port can transfer goods to 400 million consumers in Europe and North Africa in less than 48 hours and it is a key player in attracting Chinese investments to the region.

"China is, by far, our main trading partner, since it is the origin or destination of more than 25 percent of the foreign trade that we handle annually," said Merc�� Conesa, president of the Port of Barcelona.

Barcelona is also the top Spanish port for trade to Asia, handling 43 percent of Spanish exports to Asia and 38 percent of Asian imports.

Since 2000, the port has had a permanent representative in China to advise its customers and potential investors. In 2017, Barcelona became the fastest-growing European port, with container throughput growing 32 percent year-on-year. It continued to keep the position in the first half of 2018, with an 18 percent growth in container throughput.

Geography has played a favorable role with regard to the Catalan economy, which offers a strongly consolidated innovation ecosystem and has become one of the main startup hubs in Europe.

"Apart from 100 regular shipping lines connecting Barcelona with 200 ports on five continents, we have a first-class position with regard to hinterland connections. Our so-called motorways of the sea connect our facility daily with the main ports of Italy and North Africa. And, most importantly, Barcelona is the only Spanish port directly connected to the European rail network," Conesa said.

She noted that it is also the leading European port in terms of cruise traffic and the leader in vehicle traffic.

As Spain's most economically developed region, Catalonia is an open and innovative trading economy, specialized in international trade and with a very efficient mix of far-reaching infrastructure.

Catalan exports represent 26 percent of all of Spanish exports. Therefore, with its state-of-the art infrastructure, the logistics sector in Catalonia is a sound sector for foreign investment, according to statistics about its recent operations.

In the Port of Barcelona, Terminal BEST, Hutchison's strategic investment in the western Mediterranean region, is a semiautomated container terminal and features one of the highest rates of productivity in the world. Chinese shipping group Cosco has established its Iberian headquarters in Barcelona, one of their strategic ports in the Mediterranean, and has substantially increased its traffic in the port in recent years.

Many other companies have already chosen Barcelona as their logistics hub. Direct container services with the shortest transit time from Asia to Europe - 21 days from China - and other key advantages are serving central European markets from Barcelona. Officials say these are strong factors to attract new trade flows and distribution centers.

Instead of using the northern European logistics nodes, to access European markets from Barcelona, companies can save up to 15 percent in distribution costs and can reduce up to 20 percent on their carbon footprint.

Through the Barcelona European Logistics Center, or BARCELOC, the Port of Barcelona and local administrations are positioning the Barcelona area as a logistics hub for leading Chinese companies, by offering favorable tax incentives, industrial specialization and logistics partnerships.

BARCELOC is a business-oriented public service, offering customized and tailor-made guidance on China's potential investments in Barcelona. The service is free of charge and rendered neutrally and confidentially.

Apart from Hutchison and Cosco, a number of Chinese companies have already settled in Catalonia. Among them are Air China, Asus, BenQ, China Construction Bank, Cronos, D-Link, Haier, Keeway, Lenovo, Bluestar Silicones, Kerry Logistics, Baosteel and Minmetals.