Guangzhou grasping at historic chances for growth

The recently signed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership provides great opportunities for Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong province, in terms of investment and foreign trade, according to the city's commerce chief.

The city, the only national hub in South China, will escalate its efforts to attract funds, technologies and talent from the countries under the framework of the RCEP by taking advantages of the facilitation arrangements, said Hong Qian, director general of the Guangzhou commerce bureau.

The RCEP agreement was signed on Nov 15 in Hanoi, Vietnam, one of the 15 participating countries, launching the world's biggest free trade bloc. Participating countries include the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

"The investment promotion will focus on the sectors of artificial intelligence, digital economy, biomedicine and new energy, by introducing a pool of fund-intensive and technology-intensive projects that could generate industrial output of 10 billion yuan ($1.53 billion)," Hong noted.

Companies that are doing business in the region will be encouraged to set up headquarters in Guangzhou, given its location reaching most of the RCEP members in four hours by air, he added.

The city plans to optimize the business environment at ports, streamline customs clearance and strengthen cooperation in intellectual property rights and payment settlement to promote the business of procurement and cross-border e-commerce, according to Hong.

Official statistics show that Guangzhou has established a close trading relationship with RCEP members with trade volumes rising stably.

In 2019, the import and export volume between Guangzhou and RCEP members was nearly 350 billion yuan, accounting for 34.7 percent of the city's total foreign trade. It was 3.54 percentage points higher than the average level of the country and rose to 35.9 percent in the first three quarters of this year, the official figures show.

"The signing of the RCEP promotes the diversity of imports, optimizes the import structure and improves the supply quality and performance of the urban consumption of Guangzhou," Hong said.

Nansha New Area, a major part of China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone, was selected as one of the 10 innovative demonstration districts to promote imports across the nation in early December.

Hong said the commerce bureau is working on a package of incentive policies covering commodity category expansion, cross-border e-commerce, China railway express services to Europe and services trade.

"All the measures aim to further tap import potential, increasing the import of advanced technologies, equipment and parts as well as resource products that are in need domestically," he said.

The city government will strengthen cooperation with RCEP members and professional organizations by means of seminars, two-way investment and trade promotion activities, to play a significant role in the new partnership.