Written by Li Min / Translated by Xu Zhiliang

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“Two Countries， Twin Parks” to Press ahead via Favorable Platforms
--An interview with Tan Xiuhong， Deputy Director-General of the Department of Commerce of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region （DCGZAR） of P. R. C.

Written by Li Min / Translated by Xu Zhiliang

Demonstration area for internationalproduction capacity cooperation

China-ASEAN Panorama： The state leaders of Malayisa and China have given high priority to “Two Countries， Twin Parks” which is a flagship project for bilateral cooperation. What do you think of this cooperative model’s positive effects on the development of international ecnonomic and trade cooperation， as well as international production cooperation？

Tan Xiuhong： The state leaders of both countries have been thinking highly of the state-level open platform --“Two Countries， Twin Parks”， which is not only a correct decision focusing on the present and the future， but also an innovated practice for bilateral pragmatic cooperation. Intensifi ed efforts have been made to conduct cooperation in industrial planning and competitive industries，advance bilateral production capacity cooperation， and develop transnational industry chain， logistics chain and service chain， with the aim of building a platform for regional production capacity cooperation and a demonstration area. Thus， both effective interaction and advantage complementarity will be achieved in such aspects as resource endowment， capital advantage， and market potential， and then new growth poles of economy and employment will be created.

“Two Countries， Twin Parks”： A pilot project concerning the Belt and Road Initiative

China-ASEAN Panorama： China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park （CMQIP） is the first one invested by the governments of Malaysia and China. So， what is CMQIP’s infl uence on the cooperation between Guangxi and ASEAN countries？ And， under the Belt and Road Initiative， what is CMQIP’s positive significance to the building of Guangxi’s role as a new portal oriented toward the opening up and cooperation？

Tan Xiuhong： “Two Countries， Twin Parks” is a significant intergovernmental project between Maylaysia and China. Driven by the construction of an upgraded version of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area （CAFTA） and the Belt and Road Initiative， not only is the cooperative project a pilot project and an important practice for boosting the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative， but also it plays a positive role in demonstrating and leading the bilateral cooperation between Guangxi and ASEAN countries. As for Guangxi， “Two Countries， Twin Parks” is an important platform and window for deepening opening up to the outside world and cooperation， a pilot project for building China-ASEAN cooperation demonstration area and strengthening reform and innovation， as well as an indispensable carrier to accelerate the construction of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road， which is of vital significance to the further improvement of Guangxi’s opening up to the outside world and the rapid development of local economy and society.

Three available strategies：Improved mechanism， preferential policies and investment promotion

China-ASEAN Panorama： The opening up and construction of CMQIP has entered into a new phase centered on city and industry after the three-year period of infrastructure construction. Now， investment attraction has become the top priority of CMQIP. Could you introduce DCGZAR’s supportive strategies for investment attraction， as well as further development and construction in the future？

Tan Xiuhong： Multiple treasures have been taken by DCGZAR to promote the two parks’ investment attraction： fi rstly， we have utilized activities concerning the 40th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between Malaysia and China to enhance the two parks’ influence， and strived to make “TwoCountries， Twin Parks” an important issue of Malaysia-China High Level Economic Forum； secondly， we have fostered a mechanism for joint investment attraction. Due to DCGZAR’s efforts， MOU on the Promotion of Industry and Investment Cooperation was signed by Investment Promotion Agency of Ministry of Commerce of P.R.C.， MATRADE， MIDA， ECERDC and CMQIP，marking the official establishment of the mechanism for five-party investment attraction； thirdly， we have successfully held a series of large-scale joint promotion conferences， for example， Investment Promotion Conference for Malaysia and China-Malaysia “Two Countries， Twin Parks” held on September 19， 2015； and fourthly， we have innovated and increased the channels of attracting investment and introducing CMQIP and MCKIP， including CAEXPO， China International Fair for Investment & Trade （CIFIT）， Pan-PRD Regional Cooperation and Development Forum， Pan-Beibu Gulf Economic Cooperation Forum， etc.

Next， DCGZAR will continue promoting the construction of CMQIP and MCKIP through improving mechanism， policies and investment attraction： first，we will establish a sound international cooperative mechanism for CMQIP and MCKIP through enhancing cooperation among DCGZAR， CMQIP Management Committee， and Beibu Gulf Port Group， establishing our commerce liaison offi ce to Malaysia， and preparing for the establishment of our own management committee in MCKIP； second， state-level and local-level preferential policies will be introduced to support the development of CMQIP and MCKIP； and thirdly， we will improve the customs clearance mode -- “Two Countries， One Inspection”， of which the specifi c procedures and work roadmap have been preliminarily figured out in March 2016.

International cooperation to boost the development of industrial parks

China-ASEAN Panorama： How do you view CMQIP’s guiding significance to the international economic and trade exchanges and cooperation of other cities in Guangxi？

Tan Xiuhong： It is favorable for the development and construction of a number of Chinese and foreign-invested cooperation zones in Guangxi， such as Brunei-Guangxi Economic Corridor， and China-Thailand （Chongzuo）Industrial Park， to further improve the cooperative model of “Two Countries， Twin Parks” and generalizing related successful experience including the establishment of coordinated and cooperative mechanism， joint investment attraction， and industrial interaction， and so on； and we will continue deepening industrial cooperation and mutual investment between other ASEAN countries and Guangxi on the basis of building industrial parks collectively， so as to create more carriers for opening up and cooperation.

Upgraded services to guarantee the sustainable development of CMQIP and MCKIP

China-ASEAN Panorama： During the 13th Five-Year Plan， Guangxi will be committed to improving overseas industrial parks in 10 ASEAN countries. So， could you tell us the concrete measures concerned？ And how will MCKIP be infl uenced by these measures？

Tan Xiuhong： Firstly， work will be done to promote the introduction of policies for assisting Chinese enterprises in going global to establish their bases and industrial parks，and guide them to enlarge foreign investment scale and raise quality. We will draw successful experience from Ningbo， Zhejiang Province， China to make Guangxi’s outbound investment and cooperation innovated， and give full play to the agglomeration effect of enterprises to do business overseas via related special policies.

Secondly， priority should be given to promoting Guangxi to make new headway in ASEAN’s major projects，and tapping the potential of the ASEAN market： we will vigorously support the construction of MCKIP，MCKIP’s steel project and Kuantan Port， and provide more convenient services for enterprises in terms of certification， financing， investment attraction and publicity； we will work hard to advance the investment promotion on China-Indonesia economic and trade cooperation zone and assist the zone in handling the issues related to China’s Ministry of Commerce， etc.

Thirdly， greater emphasis will be placed on the fi nancing services for enterprises’ going global， under the Belt and Road Initiative. We will offer enterprises to do business overseas professional help in financing consulting，information service， financing business handling and so on.

Lastly， intensified efforts will be made to build a comprehensive service platform against overseas risks. We will encourage the related enterprises to buy insurance against the risks of overseas projects， and accelerate the implementation of the risk security program for Guangxi’s overseas assets， and strive to has access to more government’s fi nancial support.

中國(guó)—東盟自貿(mào)區(qū)CAFTA