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)