Jiangxi looks to Greater Bay Area for new trade and economic cooperation

As a key player in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Jiangxi province is boosting trade and economic cooperation with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to achieve high-quality leap-forward development, local officials said.

Zhu Yuanfa, inspector of the Department of Commerce of Jiangxi, said the Bay Area has a vibrant and open economy and is a vital investment destination for Jiangxi.

"The Bay Area is also a bridge for Jiangxi to go global."

Guangdong province is the main source of industrial transfer in Jiangxi, ranking first in use of funds for projects from outside the province.

From January to October, Jiangxi introduced 910 projects from Guangdong. Total investment for the projects reached 191.86 billion yuan ($29.2 billion), accounting for some 28 percent of the province's total.

Hong Kong and Macao are other main sources for investment in Jiangxi. Hong Kong has ranked first in the province's cross-boundary investment for years.

Some 420 Hong Kong-funded enterprises were established in Jiangxi from January to October. The paidin capital from Hong Kong amounted to $8.48 billion, which accounted for 75 percent of the province's total.

Hong Kong is also a main capital market for Jiangxi enterprises to get listed.

More than 20 Jiangxi companies are listed in Hong Kong including Jiangxi Copper, Jiangzhou Union Shipbuilding, China Textile Holding, Accor Holdings and Wanguo International Mining Group.

In 2019, the total import and export trade between Jiangxi and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao totaled about $4.01 billion, a year-on-year increase of 22.52 percent. Of that total, exports reached about $3.95 billion, a year-on-year increase of 23.9 percent.

From January to July, the total import and export trade between Jiangxi and the two special administrative regions was around $2.43 billion, a year-on-year increase of 21.07 percent. Of that total, exports accounted for some $2.41 billion, a year-on-year increase of 22.1 percent.

Hong Kong is the fourth-largest export market in Jiangxi, after ASEAN, EU and the United States.

The main commodities exported from Jiangxi to Hong Kong are mechanical and electrical products, textiles and clothing, and footwear. The main products imported from Hong Kong include integrated circuits, textile products, glass products and plastics.

Jiangxi is also focusing on inland ports, rail-sea combined transport and freight channels to coordinate its development with the Bay Area.

Last year, the Jiangxi-Shenzhen rail-sea combined transport line opened a total of 545 lines, achieving three shifts in two days and carrying a total of 43,600 heavy twenty-foot equivalent units. The new lines accounted for 33.96 percent of the combined rail-sea transport in Jiangxi.

From January to July, the Jiangxi-Shenzhen rail-sea combined transport line carried a total of 23,400 TEUs, accounting for 30.58 percent of the province's total transport volume.

Since 2018, Jiangxi has signed strategic cooperation agreements with Guangdong to deepen economic ties. In 2019, a business alliance between the Bay Area and Jiangxi was established to encourage Guangdong enterprises entering Jiangxi. More than 5,500 Guangdong enterprises have invested in Jiangxi, tallying a cumulative investment of 1.34 trillion yuan.

From January to September, Jiangxi introduced 818 projects from Guangdong, using a total investment of 171.2 billion yuan.

Key industrial transfer projects include Shenzhen Luxshare Precision Industry's investment of 8 billion yuan in the production and sales of electronic products and molds in Ji'an, Ofilm Group's investment of 6 billion yuan in the development and production of high-pixel mobile phone camera modules in Nanchang and an electronic information technology park project invested by Shin Tech in Ganzhou of $500 million.

The loan balance of China Merchants Bank, Ping An Bank, and China Guangfa Bank in Jiangxi was about 135.59 billion yuan at the end of September.

Ping An Insurance's capital has entered Jiangxi with 8.7 billion yuan, ranking at the forefront of the province's insurance institutions. The Nanchang Ping An Financial Center, with a total investment of 8.5 billion yuan, is under planning.

Jiangxi is also establishing a long-term contact mechanism with Guangdong financial regulatory agencies and carrying out financial exchanges and cooperation.

The Jiangxi provincial government has signed cooperation agreements with key enterprises such as Huawei and Tencent. Cities including Yingtan, Ganzhou and Shangrao have made business deals with ZTE and accelerated the promotion of virtual reality and 5G. Since 2019, Jiangxi has held six agricultural thematic matchmaking activities in Guangdong and signed nearly 100 agricultural cooperation projects valued at a total of 37.86 billion yuan.