◇ In recent years, as the construction of new land and sea channels in the west and the China ASEAN Industrial Cooperation Zone continue to advance in depth, Guangxi is taking the institutional opening as the guide to make greater breakthroughs in services and integration into the new development pattern
◇ From building "hard connectivity" of infrastructure to improving the level of cross-border trade facilitation and strengthening "soft connectivity" of rules and standards, the institutional open cooperation of Guangxi Pilot Free Trade Zone towards ASEAN has been deepening
◇ Guangxi, located in an important position in the area covered by RCEP, has multiple overlapping advantages in location, transportation, policies, resources, etc.Stimulating the potential of Guangxi Pilot Free Trade Zone and deepening cooperation with other RCEP member countries will help Guangxi better realize the high standard docking of rules, regulations, management and standards
People visit and exchange at the 2023 China ASEAN Expo Tourism Exhibition Guangxi Guilin New International Convention and Exhibition Center (photographed on October 13, 2023)
In the early winter, the Detian Transnational Waterfall Scenic Area, located in Daxin County, Chongzuo City, Guangxi, is still sunny.Tourists from China and Vietnam are opening a new experience of "one-day visit to two countries" in the Sino Vietnam Detian (Banyue) Falls Cross border Tourism Cooperation Zone.As the first cross-border tourism cooperation zone in China, the Sino Vietnamese Detian (Banyue) Falls cross-border tourism cooperation zone has achieved the docking of management systems and become an important carrier for closer Sino Vietnamese cultural and tourism cooperation.
It is an important mission entrusted to Guangxi by the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core to actively serve and build a China ASEAN community of shared future.Guangxi is connected with ASEAN by land and sea, which is a frontier window for China's cooperation with ASEAN.In recent years, Guangxi has constantly improved the system and mechanism for docking with ASEAN's opening and cooperation, vigorously promoted the efficient allocation of resources, technology, talents and other elements between China and ASEAN, accelerated the building of an institutional opening front for ASEAN, and increasingly became a convenient place for domestic and international dual cycle market operation.
Sui Guohua, vice chairman of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, said that under the promotion of a series of open platforms, Guangxi has constantly transformed its unique geographical advantages into development advantages, advanced the construction of new land and sea channels in the west at a high level, and built a trans regional cross-border industrial chain supply chain of "Great Gulf Area - Beibu Gulf Economic Zone - ASEAN".At the same time, we should give better play to the role of "Nanning Channel", carry out a series of institutional exploration in promoting the construction of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area and carrying out international cooperation focusing on ASEAN, and make the institutional open cooperation towards ASEAN full of vitality.
Institutional openness highlights vitality
At the beginning of December 2023, there will be a busy scene at the Friendship Pass port on the border between China and Vietnam: trucks from China and Vietnam will queue up for customs clearance, batches of agricultural products from ASEAN countries such as durian and mangosteen will enter China from here, and trucks loaded with electronic components and large mechanical equipment will be exported to ASEAN countries from here.
In order to ensure the "zero delay" of fruit customs clearance, Youyi Customs Port took the lead in implementing the "multi card integration" of customs and border inspection departments at border ports across the country, greatly reducing the time for vehicles to pass, and promoting the rapid entry of ASEAN products into China.
ASEAN is a key region for high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road".In recent years, as the construction of new land and sea channels in the west and the China ASEAN Industrial Cooperation Zone continue to advance in depth, Guangxi is taking the institutional opening as a guide to make greater breakthroughs in services and integration into the new development pattern.
Since the China ASEAN Expo and the China ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (hereinafter referred to as the "East China Expo and Summit") were held 20 years ago, efforts have been made to improve the economic and trade promotion function, promote the upgrading of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area from version 1.0 to version 2.0 and move towards version 3.0.
The previous 20 grand conferences have continuously gathered new consensus in the areas of jointly building the "Belt and Road" initiative and docking with the ASEAN Connectivity Master Plan 2025, implementing the Vision 2030 for China ASEAN Strategic Partnership, establishing a "10+1" cooperation mechanism covering more than 40 fields, and publishing nearly 100 important documents such as the Nanning Declaration.Today, the East China Expo and the Summit are speeding up from serving bilateral trade and investment cooperation to serving institutional openness.
The ASEAN Standardization Cooperation and Exchange Center was inaugurated, the China ASEAN intellectual property big data platform was launched, and the Nanning Declaration on Customs Food Safety Cooperation along the "Belt and Road" was signed... During the 20th East China Expo and the Summit, the first side meeting on the theme of "institutional openness: a new pattern of regional economic development" was held.Leaders of China and ASEAN countries have reached a series of consensus around institutional opening, and many projects focusing on institutional opening and cooperation have landed in Guangxi.
"The CAEXPO has painted a new blueprint for promoting the construction of a new pattern of regional development and an open world economy." Wei Zhaohui, Secretary General of the CAEXPO Secretariat, said that Guangxi uses this platform to accelerate the construction of a number of major open platforms, such as the Guangxi Pilot Free Trade Zone and the China ASEAN Information Port, and drive the implementation of important mechanisms and institutions,We will vigorously promote regional institutional openness and cooperation to a new level.
According to Zhai Kun, a professor in the School of International Relations of Peking University, after years of exploration and efforts, Guangxi has become an important region for China and ASEAN to carry out institutional open cooperation, which strongly promotes China and ASEAN to achieve a higher level of open cooperation on the basis of being each other's largest trading partner.
In order to continue to serve the high-level opening and cooperation between China and Vietnam, the New Spring Meeting of the Party Committee Secretaries of the four border provinces of Guangxi, China and Vietnam and the Joint Working Committee Meeting have been held for many years in succession, constantly promoting in-depth exchanges in bilateral economic and trade cooperation, connectivity, border control and other fields,A series of documents, such as the Memorandum of Friendly Cooperation between the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Gaoping, Guangning, Langshan, and Hejiang Provincial Committees of the Communist Party of Vietnam (2022-2026), were jointly signed to promote the deepening of cooperation between all parties and the maturing of the cooperation mechanism.
The results of institutional opening-up are gradually emerging - from January to November 2023, the cumulative cargo throughput of Beibu Gulf Port will be 282 million tons, an increase of 11.23% year on year;Guangxi's total import and export value was 612.02 billion yuan, up 7% year on year.
Institutional openness and cooperation to improve quality and efficiency
Entering Nanning's China ASEAN Characteristic Commodity Gathering Center, Thailand's latex pillows, Vietnamese coffee and other commodities are dazzling, and there are more than 3500 kinds of exhibits in Nanning.
Shi Guowei, general manager of Guangxi Xinzhong Industrial Investment Co., Ltd., said that the Sino Singapore Nanning International Logistics Park and the Convergence Center really enjoyed the superimposed dividends of various preferential policies in the pilot free trade zone, and the industrial agglomeration effect of the park accelerated, driving the rapid development of surrounding industries in scale.
Driven by the China ASEAN Free Trade Area launched in 2010, the China ASEAN industrial chain and supply chain system have become increasingly perfect and become a key component of the global industrial chain.Zhai Kun said that the China ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 under construction has many "links" with China's pilot free trade zone.
In August 2019, China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone (hereinafter referred to as Guangxi Pilot Free Trade Zone) was approved to be established, which is the only pilot free trade zone along both the coast and the border in China.Over the past four years since its establishment, the Guangxi Pilot Free Trade Zone has attracted nearly 100000 enterprises, with foreign trade import and export volume exceeding 850 billion yuan, and cross-border RMB settlement of China ASEAN Financial City exceeding 1.93 trillion yuan.
"Openness is the primary principle in the process of the integration of China and ASEAN industrial chains." Yang Chunting, Director of the Department of Commerce of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, said that in recent years, Guangxi has adhered to the principle of promoting reform, development and innovation through openness, and has formed a series of cooperation mechanisms for ASEAN, including the Guangxi Pilot Free Trade Zone, the new land and sea channel in the west, and the China ASEAN Information Port.Guangxi Pilot Free Trade Zone gives full play to its advantages along the border, strengthens the joint development with ASEAN countries, and better serves the national and regional development strategy.
From building "hard connectivity" of infrastructure to improving the level of cross-border trade facilitation and strengthening the "soft connectivity" of rules and standards, the institutional open cooperation of Guangxi Pilot Free Trade Zone towards ASEAN has been deepening.
Improve the level of cross-border trade facilitation.At the terminal of Qinzhou Port in Guangxi, refrigerated containers with fruits imported from Thailand are hoisted from the ship to the trailer truck and then directly transported out of the gate from the terminal, which takes less than 0.5 hour.At the same time, the railway containers arriving at Qinzhou Port do not need to be reloaded, but can go to sea directly to achieve "one box to the end".Such an efficient transshipment process benefits from the innovative facilitation measures of "ship side direct lifting and arrival direct loading" in Qinzhou Port Area of Guangxi Pilot Free Trade Zone.In the first half of 2023, the overall customs clearance time of Qinzhou port shore import and export will be 41.85 hours and 1.37 hours respectively, 84.35% and 96.46% less than that of 2017.
Actively connect with high standard international economic and trade rules."The Guangxi Pilot Free Trade Zone actively connects with international high standard economic and trade rules such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (CPTPP), the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), and builds a higher standard business environment for investment and trade liberalization," said Yang Chunting.
Improve and optimize the service and management of the gateway port for ASEAN.As the only coastal zone among the three zones of Guangxi Pilot Free Trade Zone, Qinzhou Port Zone gives play to its unique geographical advantages, steadily expands institutional opening, and builds a new channel portal port at a high level.In 2022 alone, the total import and export value of Qinzhou Port to ASEAN will reach 9.161 billion yuan, up 37.4% year on year
Zhai Kun analyzed that China ASEAN has a deep industrial division, and economic and trade cooperation has been continuously upgraded.With the promotion of the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" into a new stage of high-quality development and the in-depth implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (hereinafter referred to as RCEP), the regional industrial chain between China and ASEAN will be further integrated, the institutional open cooperation model will step to a new level, and Guangxi, which has a deep foundation for cooperation with ASEAN, has great prospects.
Boost high-level institutional openness
The RCEP will come into force on January 1, 2022.
At present, China has signed the "Certified Operator" (AEO) mutual recognition arrangement with six ASEAN countries, including Singapore, and signed bilateral tax agreements with several ASEAN countries, including Malaysia. More than 90% of the goods between China and ASEAN enjoy zero tariff treatment, and the level of trade and investment liberalization and facilitation has further improved.
This has something to do with the gradual implementation of a series of RCEP rules.Among them, the "cumulative rule of origin" in RCEP has become a highlight - most products can enjoy corresponding tariff preferences as long as the value-added part realized in the processing process belongs to 15 member countries and the cumulative value-added exceeds 40%.
In the plant area of Guangxi Jingui Pulp&Paper Co., Ltd., located in Qinzhou Port, the production line machines are roaring and various machines are producing at full power."The company imports raw materials from ASEAN countries, such as wood chips, wood pulp, starch, etc., which meet the cumulative origin standard of 40% value-added of RCEP export products, making it easier for customers to enjoy preferential tariffs. In addition, the company will issue a declaration of origin for approved exporters, which will make customs clearance more efficient." Zhou Ju, head of the logistics department of Guangxi Jingui Pulp&Paper Co., Ltd., said,After RCEP came into effect, the efficiency of circulation link was significantly improved, and enterprises had more confidence in production development.
Guangxi, located in an important position in the area covered by RCEP, has multiple overlapping advantages in location, transportation, policies, resources, etc.Stimulating the potential of Guangxi Pilot Free Trade Zone and deepening the cooperation with other RCEP member countries will help Guangxi better realize the high standard docking of rules, regulations, management and standards.
Relying on the existing development zones, free trade zones and industrial parks in Nanning, Beihai, Fangchenggang, Qinzhou, Yulin, Baise, Chongzuo and other seven cities, Guangxi accelerates the cross-border industrial chain supply chain cooperation with ASEAN national parks and enterprises, integrates the construction of China ASEAN industrial cooperation zone, and creates a spatial development pattern of "one city, one area" and "one area, multiple parks".
"An open park should play an important role as a carrier for implementing institutional openness, innovate cooperation models and deepen economic, trade and investment cooperation against international high standard economic and trade rules including RCEP, so as to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results for both enterprises," said Zhou Hanmin, member of the Standing Committee of the 14th CPPCC National Committee and chairman of the Advisory Committee of China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone.Ge Hongliang, vice president of the ASEAN College of Guangxi Minzu University, believes that accelerating the high-quality implementation of RCEP and actively promoting the docking of CAEXPO with high standard multilateral economic and trade rules such as CPTPP and DEPA will help build a global network of high standard free trade zones and actively promote the in-depth development of new economic globalization.
Yang Chunting said that in the next step, Guangxi will vigorously implement the promotion strategy of the pilot free trade zone, promote the deepening reform at a higher starting point and the opening up at a higher level, and promote the formation of more leading and symbolic institutional innovation achievements.
