written by Lin Han / translated by Gao Qianqian

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China-Thailand （Chongzuo） Industrial Park: A Shining Pearl on the Land Access to ASEAN

written by Lin Han / translated by Gao Qianqian

It is a key gateway to Southern China and the destination of flows of people, goods and vehicles. It is a golden node of the China-Singapore Economic Corridor, which is crowned as a “Gold Belt”. The city we talked about is Chongzuo （Guangxi）, an important hub connecting Southwest China, South Central China, Southern China, and the big market of ASEAN, serving as both a land and sea access. With the advance of the “Belt and Road” and the upgraded CAFTA, Chongzuo, a gateway port city in the region, will embrace more business opportunities.

Favorable foundation and conditions, as well as the increasingly closer cooperation between China and ASEAN, have nurtured the China-Thailand （Chongzuo）Industrial in Chongzuo, a city with immense potentials. In September, 2012, Chongzuo government signed a cooperation agreement with Thailand’s Community Support Foundation to co-build the China-Thailand （Chongzuo）Industry Park. The park has a total planned area of 50 sq. km., with an urban development area of 33 sq. km. And the goal of the park is to build itself into a “new highland on the land access to ASEAN and a demonstration zone for China-Thailand cooperation”.

Regional Pattern Determines Development Goals

Chongzuo, a resource-rich region, is endowed with abundant subtropical agricultural & forestry resources. Its annual output of cane sugar accounts for one fifth of that of the whole nation, and one third of Guangxi, praised as China’s “Capital of Sugar”. The city is also rich in mineral resources, among which bentonite and manganese reserves rank the top nationwide. Besides, other mineral such as bauxite, rare earth, iron and gold also concentrate here. These have provided favorable foundations for the development of China-Thailand （Chongzuo） Industrial Park.

In line with its resource superiority and transportation advantage, the park defines its leading industries as sugar and food manufacturing, household textile, materials and electronics, international trade and logistics, and crossborder e-commerce. At present, the fi rst-phase cyclic cane sugar manufacture project of COFCO Tunhe Chongzuo Sugar Co., Ltd. has been completed. The multi-purpose cyclic sugar project of Guangxi Nanning East Asia Sugar Group is under construction. And the Guangxi Chongzuo ?Longzan ASEAN International Forestry Cyclic Economy Industrial Park is also being constructed. In the initial stage, to focus on projects within the realm of possibility could speed up the formation of industry clusters and win a good start for the development of the park.

As for the mid-and-long-term development planning, the park takes mechatronics, cross-border e-commerce, leisure tourism, technology research & development and incubation as potential leading industries, which confi rms to the development trend. Although these potential leading industries are small in scale and have limited infl uence on the economic development of the park, informatization and technicalization are the trend for future industrial development. So, the experts believed that these potential leading industries have huge development potentials and promising prospects, and is very likely to develop into leading industries of the park.

Besides, the park’s correlative industries include real estate, finance, convention & exhibition services, intermediary consulting services, packaging industry, etc. And it will focus on four major industrial clusters -- food manufacturing, cyclic sugar industry, household textile, materials and electronics. The interactive development of all industries has perfected the associated industries in the park and enhanced the sustainable development of the park. As introduced by Huang Ke, Municipal Party Secretary of Chongzuo, the overall output of the park, according to its development plan, is expected to reach 45 billion yuan by the end of 2020 and 120 billion yuan by end of 2030, with the aim of building the park into a demonstration zone for industrial cooperation between China and Thailand, and other ASEAN countries, an important food manufacturing base in CAFTA, an industrial base for food, householdsupplies and new materials in Guangxi, and the new hub for China-Singapore Economic Corridor and the new access to the sea in China’s Southwest.

Favorable Conditions Attract Investment

“Chongzuo is an important node city in the China-Singapore Economic Corridor, which has sound foundation, favorable opportunities and full vigor. The ASEAN-oriented China-Thailand （Chongzuo） Industrial Park connects Nanning Wuxu Airport” and Nanning-Youyiguan （Friendship Pass）Expressway. Close to the railway, waterway, airport, it enjoys convenient transportation and has the conditions for industrial development. Land for the project has been approved and the best time for investing in the park is coming,” said Huang Ke. Linking inland China, backed by China’s Southeast, and facing ASEAN, Chongzuo provides a colossal market and great opportunities for enterprises intending to invest in the park to expand their domestic and foreign markets, especially the ASEAN market. These favorable conditions have also attracted world-renowned enterprises like COFCO, CHINALCO and Mitr Phol Group to the park, providing favorable opportunities for the synchronous development of upstream and downstream industries.

After years of development, Chongzuo has become a window for China-ASEAN cooperation. Linked by both land and sea, Chongzuo and the ASEAN countries share similar customs and language, and enjoy frequent cultural and tourism exchanges, as well as close economic and trade cooperation. The statistics show that the city’s total foreign trade value amounted to US$ 14.7 billion in 2014, ranking the first in Guangxi for 6 years in succession. It has established sister cities relationship with Mukdahan Province （Thailand） and Lang Son （Vietnam）, signed the letter of intent to establish sister cities with Thakhek （Laos）, and jointly built cross-border economic zones and international tourism cooperation zones with Vietnam. These have laid a favorable cooperation foundation for the development of the park.

In the vicinity of the park, there are Chongzuo （ASEAN）International Trade Logistics Park, Chongzuo International Passenger Transport Center, and Chongzuo （ASEAN）International Agricultural Trade Center. And there are 35 logistics and passenger transport enterprises, with an annual passenger fl ow of 4.7 millon and cargo transport capacity of 850 tons. The completed logistics services enable enterprises investing in the park to send their products to all over the world unimpededly.

Seek for Upgraded Development

Industrial parks are the real carriers of the “Belt and Road”. The top priority of China-Thailand （Chongzuo） Industrial Park is how to obtain faster and better development by seizing the opportunities provided by the “Belt and Road”. The experts suggested that the park should further complete its communication mechanisms, build a solid foundation and promote its construction from a higher level. Also, experience of constructing the China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park can be used for reference.

“China-Thailand （Chongzuo） Industrial Park confirms to the development strategy of both China and Thailand. It is in response to China’s ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative and Thailand’s ‘special economic zone’ strategy, wining strong support from Thailand,” said Senior Consultant of Thailand's Community Support Foundation on the Symposium for the Construction Plan of China-Thailand （Chongzuo） Industrial Park held on June 1st, 2015. He claimed, the construction of China-Thailand （Chongzuo）Industrial Park will promote border trade logistics facilitation of countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion, benefi ting people of all these countries.

Assistant Director of China-ASEAN Expo Secretariat Tang Hai advised that the park should make good use of the CAEXPO, and organize signing ceremonies and promotion conferences. At the same time, it should gain leverage with Thai and Chinese chambers of commerce to strengthen the contacts with Thai high-level leaders.

Related offi cials from Chongzuo, Guangxi, China, claimed, on the occasion of the full implementation of the “Belt and Road”, they plan to choose an industrial park or special economic zone in Thailand to form “twin parks”with China-Thailand （Chongzuo） Industrial Park, so as to establish a “two countries, twin parks” pattern, and are striving to include it in the agenda of the 12th CAEXPO, hoping to gain supports from the governments of Thailand and China.

At the same time, Wang Zongwen,Director-General of the Planning and Structural Reform Division of the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone & Cooperation with ASEAN Office of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, proposed, the construction of China-Thailand （Chongzuo） Industrial Park should be promoted from higher level, and experience from other advanced regions could be borrowed to make the park a new landmark project. Zhu Lei, Director-General of the ASEAN Division of the Commerce Department of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, said, the construction of China-Thailand （Chongzuo） Industrial Park should be raised to the government level. Meanwhile, it should build a solid foundation, strengthen work force, and learn from the experience of constructing the China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park.