Phnom Penh (FN), Oct. 26 – As early as more than 2,000 years ago, a delegation of the Han Dynasty sailed from Hepu Port in Guangxi along the Beibu Gulf coast. Persian pottery pots and agate glass products exhibited in Hepu Han Dynasty Culture Museum are telling the story of the ancient Maritime Silk Road. Nowadays, batches of products made in China, such as electric vehicles, lithium batteries and solar cells, are shipped from Beibu Gulf Port to the Belt and Road Initiative countries along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, becoming “three new products” for export.
"Guangxi is located in an important node and key area connecting with the Belt and Road Initiative and the overall planning of land and sea. In the past 10 years, based on its geographical advantages, we have actively participated in the Belt and Road Initiative cooperation, promoted economic and trade cooperation, expanded high-level opening up, created a place facilitating domestic and international dual-cycle markets, and opened up the “Conception Vessel” and "Governor Vessel” for openness and development.” Yang Chunting, director of the Department of Commerce of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, said in an interview.
In the past 10 years, the import and export volume between Guangxi and the Belt and Road Initiative countries has increased from RMB 111.51 billion in 2013 to RMB 345.94 billion in 2022. From January to August, 2023, the import and export volume between Guangxi and the Belt and Road Initiative countries reached RMB 259.11 billion, up 45.9 per cent year-on-year.
Remarkable Achievements made from the Construction of the Belt and Road Initiative
Since 2013, relying on high-level open platforms such as China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, Guangxi has strengthened its role of “Nanning Channel”, promoted the construction of major projects such as the demonstration zone of international cooperation in service trade, the pilot zone of imported goods in border trade, smart ports and other pilot projects, and made every effort to build a convenient place to serve the domestic and international dual-cycle market. In the past 10 years, Guangxi have registered or approved 246 overseas (non-financial) investment enterprises and institutions from the Belt and Road Initiative countries, and made overseas investments totaled USD 2.35 billion, up 566 per cent year-on-year, involving manufacturing, real estate, agriculture, forestry, fishery, animal husbandry, etc. Enterprises in Guangxi have carried out contract projects in the Belt and Road Initiative countries, and signed a total of 209 contracts, amounting to USD 4.12 billion, of which the turnover of projects completed in ASEAN countries is USD 2.9 billion, mainly distributed in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, etc.
At the same time, Guangxi has deepened the construction of cooperation mechanism with the Belt and Road Initiative countries. China and Malaysia jointly built the "Two Countries Twin Parks” project, which opened the precedent for China and ASEAN countries to establish and develop parks in each other.
At present, China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park in Guangxi has promoted the normalization of the export of Malaysian raw nests to China, built a cross-border industrial chain of China-ASEAN bird's nest, and established a modern industrial system including new materials, biomedicine, equipment manufacturing, electronic information and other industries. The coordinated development mode of "Port-Industry-Park" in China-Malaysia Kuantan Industrial Park has been continuously optimized.
The cooperative and interactive development of "Two Countries Twin Parks” can facilitate the interconnection and interaction between the ports of both sides, and Qinzhou Port in China and Kuantan Port in Malaysia will be established as "Sister Ports" and jointly become an important node serving "the Belt and Road Initiative" and the new land and sea passage in the west.
Guangxi has also cooperated with Singapore to build a new channel for international land and sea trade, and Beibu Gulf Port has opened 76 domestic and foreign trade container routes, covering more than 200 ports in more than 100 countries and regions. In the past six years, there have been 30,000 sea-rail combined freights running in the western land-sea new passage.
In addition, Guangxi promoted the establishment of the Guangxi-Brunei Economic Corridor, signed memorandums of understanding with Vietnam and Cambodia to strengthen cooperation in the economic and trade fields, and carried out cooperation in various fields. Guangxi will further promote the institutional opening of rules, regulations, management and standards, and implement the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) with high quality.
Accelerate the Construction of Supply Chain for Cross-border Industrial Chain facing ASEAN
"At the beginning of this year, we introduced the first 12-inch wafer lithography equipment in China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone, and the wafers and other products produced are sold well at home and abroad. Next, more production lines will be built for the ASEAN market. " Lai Zelian, director of Guangxi HotChip Semiconductor Co., Ltd., said.
Lai Zelian, who is optimistic about the advantages of Guangxi's opening to ASEAN and has been engaged in the electronic information industry for a long time, cooperated with the well-known Taiwan Province team in the industry to start a business in Guangxi.
Lai Zelian says that the Guangxi Pilot Free Trade Zone is connected with ASEAN, and the products are shipped to ASEAN countries such as Vietnam and Thailand in a short time and with low logistics costs. Next, the company will optimize the product structure, improve production capacity, and strive to catch up with the international advanced level.
Qinzhou Industrial Base of CNGR Advanced Material Co., Ltd., which was also built in China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone, recently passed SGS carbon neutrality certification, and obtained the certificate of Carbon Neutrality Declaration, becoming a "zero carbon factory", and sells its new materials and other products to all over the world.
Yuan Xun, assistant general manager of Guangxi CNGR New Energy Science & Technology Co., Ltd., says that Guangxi Beibu Gulf International Gateway Port has opened flights to all parts of the world, which facilitates the import and export of products. The company plans to build a Belt and Road Initiative demonstration park and a global integrated industrial base for new energy materials in Guangxi.
With the help of the free trade pilot zone platform, Guangxi has focused on trade and investment, cross-border capital, transportation, essential resources, free and convenient access for people, carried out institutional innovation, and built a high-level institutional opening pilot zone and experimental field, which greatly improved its industrial opening and competitive advantages. Since the establishment of China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone, it has attracted more than 90,000 enterprises, 23 times as many as when it was established.
In the future, Guangxi will build China-ASEAN Industrial Cooperation Zone and other major open platforms, build China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone at a high level, promote the joint construction of new international land and sea trade channels, deepen cooperation with ASEAN countries in institutional open areas such as rules, regulations, management and standards, promote the innovative development of foreign trade, speed up the construction of smart border ports, expand imports with ASEAN countries, and serve the construction of "the Belt and Road Initiative" at a high level.
=FRESH NEWS
