Lin-gang Special Area promotes international trade

The Lin-gang Special Area Administration – located in East China's Shanghai city – and Shanghai Lingang Economic Development Group Co Ltd held an online activity on June 24 to promote international trade and help resident businesses to coordinate their operations at home and abroad.

Nearly 500 representatives from top trading companies, financial service institutions and industry associations in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN attended the online event.

The Lin-gang Special Area Administration's finance and trade development department signs a cross-border finance and trade memorandum of cooperation with Malaysia's Labuan IBFC Incorporated Sdn Bhd. [Photo/WeChat account: shlgguanweihui]

To establish bilateral cooperation and promote communications and commerce between enterprises, the Lin-gang Special Area Administration's finance and trade development department signed a cross-border finance and trade memorandum of cooperation with Malaysia's Labuan IBFC Incorporated Sdn Bhd.

It operates the IBFC or the Labuan International Business and Financial Centre, a special economic zone for the Malaysian government based on the island of Labuan. Labuan has been designated as a financial center and free trade zone by the Malaysian government. The company was established in 1990 and has more than 6,500 offshore companies and more than 300 authorized financial institutions.

Sun Canglong (right), general manager of Shanghai Lingang Economic Development Group and Wang Ye (left), president of China Construction Bank Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone branch, sign a cooperation agreement during the event. [Photo/WeChat account: shlgguanweihui]

The Lin-gang Special Area has attracted more than 800 leading international trading groups – including China Minmetals Corporation and Trafigura Investment China – since its establishment in 2019. Dishui Lake Financial Bay, located in the Lin-gang Special Area, is attracting dozens of foreign financial institutions, such as United Overseas Bank Limited and Standard Chartered Bank.

In 2021, the total value of imports and exports conducted by the trading companies in the Lin-gang Special Area was nearly 180 billion yuan ($26.83 billion), up 37 percent year-on-year, while their registered capital was nearly 160 billion yuan.

Furthermore, the average annual growth rate of the offshore trade is expected to be 30 percent during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25).