The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is fast becoming the
gateway to Southwest China. And the opening of Guangxi Beibu Gulf
Development Investment Co (DIC) and Guangxi Beibu Gulf
International Harbor Affairs Group Co (IHAGC) in Nanning is a big
shot in the arm of the region.
Both companies are funded by the Guangxi government and are an
important step forward in the economic integration of the coastal
cities of Nanning, the region's capital, Beihai, Qinzhou,
Fangchenggang, Chongzuo and Yulin. They will help make the Beibu
Gulf a new economic growth engine of the country.
Last year, Guangxi formed an administrative committee to plan
and coordinate the zone's development. "The integrated development
of the zone requires improved infrastructure and a brand new
logistics system to get the best out of Beibu Gulf harbors'
advantages," says Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Vice-Chairman
Guo Shengkun.
"The newly launched companies are expected to raise funds for
infrastructure development, to use the coastal resources
scientifically, coordinate the industrial development in the zone
and integrate the resource advantages that have been owned
separately by different cities."
The DIC will manage the state assets as authorized by the
regional government for the development of key infrastructure
projects such as harbors, transport system, supply of water and
power, and use of coastal resources in the Beibu Gulf Economic
Cooperation Zone (ECZ).
The IHAGC will integrate the property rights of the state assets
of Fangchenggang Harbor Affairs Group Co, Qinzhou Port (Group) Co,
Beihai Harbor Co and Guangxi Coastal Railway Co and be responsible
for construction, operation and management of the zone's three
ports and railways.
"With all the advantages, the ECZ has every reason to see a
faster development of harbor-related industries and become the
biggest gateway to Southwest China," IHAGC President Ye Shixiang
says.
Ye's company will use the harbors in Qinzhou, Beihai and
Fangchenggang to their utmost advantage to develop into an
international logistics hub and spare no efforts to create a good
platform for harbor-related industries from petrochemicals,
pulp-paper manufacturing, energy, iron and steel production and
aluminum and food processing to shipbuilding, information
technology (IT), ocean-related business and tourism - for
China-ASEAN cooperation in logistics, commerce and trade, and
information exchanges.
The fact that Qinzhou, Beihai and Fangchenggang ports handled
cargoes of about 50 million tons last year should give an idea not
only of the region's economic importance, but also about the
potential it holds.
In a recent interview, Liu Qibao, Party secretary of the Guangxi
Zhuang Autonomous Region, said that accelerating the ECZ's
development and promoting economic cooperation of the pan-Beibu
Gulf rim would not only be strategically important to the region's
development, but also to the country. Closer economic cooperation
in the pan-Beibu Gulf rim will be beneficial both to China and the
ASEAN member states, most of which have economic links with the
Beibu Gulf region.
"The time has come for the region to play a bigger role in
China's economic development," Liu says. Guangxi will pour in huge
funds to lead the investment climate in the ECZ to make it home to
modern industrial clusters and beautiful coastal townships.
Since 2004, more than 10 billion yuan (US$1.28 billion) has been
budgeted for the construction of railways, ports, roads, and power
and and water supply facilities in the zone, with half of it coming
from governments in Guangxi, official data show.
Also, about 6 billion yuan (US$769.23 million) has been set
aside as investment in infrastructure projects in the first phase
of the plan, with another 4.71 billion yuan (US$603.85 million)
being budgeted for 26 additional infrastructure schemes in the
second phase.
There are indications to show that the zone is becoming a hot
spot for investors, and several deals for large-scale projects have
already been struck, Liu says.
Among them are a 56-billion-yuan (US$7.18 billion) iron and
steel joint venture between Wuhan Iron and Steel (Group) Corp and
Liuzhou Iron and Steel Group in Fangchenggang, a 12.5-billion-yuan
(US$1.6 billion) China National Petroleum Corp oil refinery project
in Qinzhou (with a refining capacity of 10 million tons a year), a
3-billion-yuan (US$384 million) electrolytic aluminum project in
Nanning, and the Beibu Gulf region's first nuclear power plant in
Fangchenggang.
Guangxi aims to achieve a GDP of 650 billion yuan (US$93.33
billion) by 2010, with a per capita GDP of US$1,600. Last year, the
region had a GDP of 480 billion yuan (US$61.54 billion) - 13.5
percent more than 2005 - a record since 1995.
(China Daily March 5, 2007)