By Zhang Chunxia

COOPERATION ZONE BOOSTS FLOW OF GOODS AND PEOPLE

By Zhang Chunxia

A new China-Vietnam border gate under construction. In the distance,the New Beilun River Bridge can be seen.

After a two-hour drive from Nanning, the capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, our reporter arrived in Dongxing, a border town at the southwest end of China’s coastline. Across the Beilun River is Mong Cai, one of Vietnam’s vital ports and special economic zones. Dongxing’s unique geographical position makes it the most convenient land and sea passageway from China to Vietnam, and to ASEAN at large.

Dongxing is a 20-year-old county-level city with an area of 590 square kilometers. Its geographical advantage has made it one of China’s core zones for development and openingup. As a flagship project of China-Vietnam cross-border economic cooperation, the construction of the Dongxing-Mong Cai Cross-Border Economic Cooperation Zone (“Dongxing-Mong Cai Zone” for short) is in full swing.

Bridges on Beilun River

Last late September, the summer heat in Dongxing had not yet receded. In the Dongxing-Mong Cai Zone, our reporter visited the newly-built New Beilun River Bridge, the new gate under construction on the border, and a lot of construction sites along the new road.

“The New Beilun Bridge is a six-lane dual carriageway,”explained Huang Yuxing,director of planning and construction of the Guangxi Dongxing National Experimental Zone for Development and Opening-up (“Dongxing experimental zone” for short).“It will ease the great traffic pressure on the existing Beilun Bridge.” The new bridge is about 3.2 kilometers downstream from the existing bridge,and 4.2 kilometers from the estuary of the Beilun River.The existing bridge is the only bridge connecting Dongxing with Mong Cai. With the official establishment of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area,exchanges and cooperation between China and Vietnam have been expanding. The rising traffic on the existing bridge has far exceeded its capacity.

In recent years, with the development of China-Vietnam border trade and the enthusiasm of Chinese tourists to visit Vietnam, the number of people going through the port has increased dramatically. Average daily flow through the port has reached 20,000-30,000 persons.By Sept. 25, a total of 7 million persons had traveled through the port this year. More than 9 million are expected to do so in the year as a whole.

“The existing bridge is only 111 meters long and 8.5 meters wide,” Huang noted. “Increased traffic has worsened congestion on the bridge.”

According to feasibility studies, the estimated daily capacity of the new bridge will be 2,000 vehicles and 30,000 passengers. An estimated 5 million people will travel through the bridge every year by 2020. By that time, the New Beilun River Bridge will be the main passageway between China and Vietnam.

Flagship Project

“The Dongxing experimental zone is one of China’s first three border-area pilot zones for development and openingup,” Huang said. “It has a total area of 1,226 square kilometers,with a population of 483,000.”The Dongxing-Mong Cai Zone is its core area, covering 84 square kilometers. It will consist of one core area and seven supporting industrial parks. The core area will total 10 square kilometers, serving the purposes of finance, trade,exhibition, manufacturing,bonded warehousing and bulk commodities trading. The other 74 square kilometers are for the seven industrial parks, which mainly serve the purposes of import and export processing and modern logistics.

The whole story began with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to Vietnam in October 2013. During the visit, the two sides agreed that each should contribute a 10-square-kilometer special customs supervisory area for the construction of the Dongxing-Mong Cai Zone,and that both sides should jointly plan the spatial layout,infrastructure construction and development.

On May 11, 2017, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang in Beijing. In a joint communique released after the meeting, the two sides agreed to accelerate the building of crossborder economic cooperation zones.

Under the supervision of customs officials, free flow of people, goods and funds across the China-Vietnam border will be allowed within the Dongxing-Mong Cai Zone. At present,the ministries of commerce of both governments have clearly identified the Dongxing-Mong Cai Zone as the first pilot for cross-border economic cooperation between the two

7million

By Sept. 25, a total of7 million personshad traveled through the port at Dongxing this year. More than 9 million are expected to do so in the year as a whole.

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On Sept. 12,the 2nd China-Vietnam Crossborder Economic Cooperation Forum &Dongxing-Mong Cai Zone Promotion Conference took place in Nanning.Sixteen contractswere signed with a total investment of9 billion yuan(US$1.5 billion).countries. Official approval is expected within the year.

Cargo lorries in a queue on Beilun River Bridge awaiting entry into the Dongxing land port.

“So far, 50 businesses have expressed their intention to operate in the zone, including Hong Kong South Asia Group,Shenzhen OptimumNano Energy, Shenzhen Minka Lighting, Sicuan Yema Automobile and CYTS Holding,"Huang said. "All of the nine standard factory buildings under construction have been fully booked.”

The cooperation zone will make use of the resources and markets of both China and ASEAN to develop five core industries, including import and export processing, trade exhibition, financial services,modern logistics and crossborder tourism. On Sept. 12,the 2nd China-Vietnam Crossborder Economic Cooperation Forum & Dongxing-Mong Cai Zone Promotion Conference took place in Nanning. Sixteen contracts were signed with a total investment of 9 billion yuan(US$1.5 billion).

According to an MOU signed by China’s Ministry of Commerce and Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Dongxing-Mong Cai Zone will strengthen bilateral cooperation in trade and investment liberalization,personnel exchange facilitation,infrastructure connectivity and convenient and efficient supervisory services. The two countries are committed to building the Dongxing-Mong Cai Zone into a vigorous crossborder economic cooperation cluster and a flagship of bilateral economic and trade investment cooperation.

“The Dongxing-Mong Cai Zone is a priority in the development of the Dongxing experimental zone. In the future, it is expected to be one of the zones with the highest degree of opening-up in China,” Huang added.