Businesses look abroad for new opportunities

About one year ago, the Myanmar government approved Guangzhou-headquartered Guangdong Zhenrong Energy's 5-million-metric-ton oil refinery project, the largest overseas Guangzhou-invested project along the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

The oil refinery project, with a total investment of $3 billion, signifies that Myanmar will for the first time build a complete modern petrochemical system and realize self-sufficiency in refined oil products. The project will create jobs and bring about taxes worth several billion dollars annually.

Guangdong Zhenrong will acquire 70 percent of shares in the investment project, which has a three-year construction period and will adopt Chinese standards. Related capital, equipment, experts and technologies will be exported from China.

The company will also invest in the petrochemical industry alongside Myanmar, in projects involving oil depots, docks, trading petroleum products, international transportation and gas stations.

A wider trend

Guangzhou-based companies have been enthusiastic about expanding abroad in recent years because of the Belt and Road Initiative, local officials said. Countries and regions related to the initiative have become new investment destinations for Guangzhou enterprises.

A representative from the Guangzhou commission of commerce said that the companies started to invest in some countries and regions related to the Belt and Road in 2013, including Fiji, Georgia, Madagascar, the Seychelles and the Maldives.

Several influential projects emerged while the Guangzhou companies sought development opportunities abroad. For example, Guangzhou Sunda Trade, also known as Sunda International, has set up nine enterprises in seven countries related to the Belt and Road.

Statistics from the Guangzhou commission of commerce show that Guangzhou companies had founded 87 organizations in countries and regions related to the Belt and Road from 2013 to 2016, with agreed investments from the Chinese side totaling $805 million.

Guangzhou companies have made use of the rich resources, labor forces and low costs in regions related to the Belt and Road to expedite establishing manufacturing centers overseas and building marketing networks.

Among these businesses is Guangzhou Wanbao Group. It acquired an Italian company in 2014, which was significant for Wanbao's freezer compressor business.

Xie Yong, deputy general manager at Wanbao, said that the Italian and Chinese companies are complementary. "Wanbao's market occupancy in Europe was low and the acquisition quickly enriched its product line, helping to found a production center in Europe."

songmengxing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/15/2017 page29)