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Host of the annual China-ASEAN Expo, Nanning is a bustling city
that’s proud of its recently acquired international renown.
Nanning is capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and its
6 million inhabitants are often seen buzzing about on motorbikes
– the commonest mode of transport in this flat, subtropical
city. Having more motorized bikes than any other Chinese city,
it’s often dubbed the “City of Motorcycles.”
Green City, Red-hot Trade
Its pleasant climate endows Nanning with a greenery rate of some
40 percent. In November, when northern city landscapes lie dry
and withered, the streets of Nanning are still dotted with full-blooming
roses, with the scent of fresh-cut grass in the air. Tropical
coconut trees line the city roads, and baskets of plants and flowers
adorn balconies everywhere. The colorful city was one of five
in China to win the China Human Settlements and Environment Award
in 2001.
In its 1,600 years of history, Nanning has served as a trade
and commercial hub for inland merchants and neighboring countries
due to its favorable geographical location on China’s southwestern
frontier. But Nanning’s recent developments are the most
impressive. It is forging an enviable reputation as an international
metropolis and regional business hub perched in the center of
one of the world’s most rapidly growing trade blocs.
The building that will accommodate the China-ASEAN Free Trade
Area Liaison Office is already under construction, and the recent
surge in trade volume between the two sides will only accelerate
when tariffs and quotas eventually disappear. Merchants from neighboring
Vietnam crowd the streets of Nanning hawking fruits and snacks,
and Vietnamese traders have financed the establishment of a local
market that deals exclusively in their national products.
Statistics evidence the boom in trade between China and ASEAN
nations. In 2004, ASEAN became China’s fourth-largest trade
partner, ahead of official forecasts. In that year, the bilateral
trade volume exceeded the US $100 billion milestone. And according
to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, bilateral trade between the
two sides had already amounted to US $94.5 billion by the end
of Q3 last year, a figure that was set to soar to US $120 billion
by the year’s end.
Bridge to Beyond
Such encouraging regional development has given a new impetus
to Guangxi’s role as a bridge between China and ASEAN. The
port of entry into Guangxi’s Dongxing City from Vietnam provides
a good example of the rapid regional expansion. It has in recent
years grown no less prosperous than its better-known counterpart,
Luohu in Shenzhen. Administrative official Wang Youhai says that
some 3,000 people from both China and Vietnam pass through the
port daily, en route to their cross-border workplaces.
When the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area is completed, with zero
tariffs between its member states, it will contribute respective
GDP increases of 1 percent and 0.3 percent to the ASEAN and Chinese
economies. By then, with the expansion of Guangxi’s Beihai
and Fangcheng seaports, China will be able to conduct direct bilateral
trade with Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and other neighboring
countries without relying on Hong Kong as a transit depot.
Road and rail links have also been improved, in tandem with the
two sides’ increasing cooperation. The National Highway 322,
which starts in Hunan Province and runs through Guangxi’s
Friendship Pass before traversing the entire region, has been
linked with Vietnam’s Highway No. 1 via Guangxi’s Pingxiang
City. It’s being expanded to encompass highway networks in
Cambodia, Thailand and other neighboring countries to become a
regional transportation artery.
Running through the Vietnamese cities of Dong Dang and Hanoi
and south to Singapore, the Sino Vietnamese International Railway
will connect China with seven ASEAN nations. China also declared
at the ASEAN 10+1 Summit that it would earmark US $5 million to
assist the dredging of the Mekong River, and would launch its
part of the Pan-Asian Railway Project in 2006.
“The Pan-Asian Railway is one of the concrete moves that
the Chinese government has taken since its proposal in 2005 to
establish the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area,” says Zhai Kun,
a scholar with the China Institute of Contemporary International
Relations. “The railway will play an incredible role in increasing
trade between China and ASEAN countries after the FTA is established.”
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