Guangxi
Link to South Asia
As the only province in China that has land and water connections with South Asia, Guangxi’s position has been enhanced by the inauguration of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area in early 2010. The province borders Vietnam to the west and is connected to Hong Kong and Macau by the Xi River. Cross border, small value trade with Vietnam accounted for around 40 percent of Guangxi’s total exports.
The provincial capital of Nanning in particular plays a key role in China-ASEAN relations. The city is the permanent home to the annual China-ASEAN Expo and the China-ASEAN Economic Park, a provincial-level park based in the Nanning Overseas Chinese Investment Zone that aims to enhance cooperation between the region and ASEAN countries.
Economy
Guangxi is home to many ethnic minority groups and its economy is based on agriculture and tourism (particularly the city of Guilin, known for its setting by the Lijiang River and Karst Peaks). Agricultural products include sugarcane, of which it is the leading producer in China, and silk-worm products. Major grain crops include rice, maize, wheat and sweet potatoes. Leading commercial crops include peanuts, sesame, ramie, tobacco, tea, cotton, and indigo. Guangxi is also a major producer of fruits; most notably pomelos, tangerines, mandarin oranges, lemons, lychee, pears, papayas, bananas and pineapples. The region’s timber industry produces sandalwood and cork, and fishing is another important local industry.
The province is also known for having a wide variety of minerals and metals and for its aluminum processing industry. In 2011, Guangxi launched a new materials research and development center, investing RMB 30 million in R&D of new metallic materials, comprehensive utilization of lowquality iron resources, and laterite-nickel ore.
Food processing, auto manufacturing, petrochemicals, power generation, nonferrous metal, metallurgy and machinery are the seven key industries of Guangxi. In addition, building materials, pharmaceutics, textile and garments, shipbuilding, as well as the marine equipment manufacturing industries have been growing rapidly. Pine resin is a particularly export-oriented commodity that comes from Wuzhou. Heavy industries include the iron-, cement- and steelworks in Liuzhou, as well as machinery production in Nanning and Wuzhou Pinyang produces ceramics, fans, felt caps, copperware, combs, brushes and straw bonnets.
In January 2012, Sinopec opened its renovated refinery in coastal city of Beihai. The new facility can refine 100,000 barrels per day, and is integrated with a 200,000 ton-per-year polypropylene unit that produces plastics.
Spotlight on Development Zones
Guangxi is also home to new high-tech development zones aimed at attracting investors in the logistics, bio-engineering, IT, electronic components and shipping industries. The Nanning-Guizhou-Kunming Economic Belt and the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone are being constructed and efforts are being taken to enhance the cooperation with Taiwan and other areas in and outside of Guangxi. At present, over 3,000 companies have settled into Guangxi’s 37 industrial parks, including China Petroleum, SDIC Power Holdings, Sinar Mas Group of Indonesia, Noble Group of Singapore, China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO) and Coca-Cola.
The High-Tech Industrial Development Zones of Nanning, Liuzhou, Qinzhou, Guilin, and Yuchai all created an industrial output value over RMB 10 billion in 2011. In addition to industrial output value, the development zones are a key source of jobs in the province. The province’s industrial zones have been developing their industrial cluster according to the area characteristics. For example, the coastal areas of Qinzhou, Beihai and Fangcheng are now focused on petrochemicals, power plants, manganese steel, sugar, and high-tech products.
Efforts have been made by the local government to increase both foreign- and domestic investment in the region. Global companies like Toyota, General Motors, NEC and IBM have all made investments in Guangxi. Many large enterprises have established regional headquarters in the city since July 2010 (when incentives were introduced to encourage doing so), including the brewer, Tsingtao, and household appliance maker, Haier.
As part of the China-ASEAN framework, the Pan-Beibu Gulf Economic Cooperation Zone comprises the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Guangdong and Hainan provinces, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Brunei.
Infrastructure
Air
Guangxi’s airports include: Nanning Wuwei, Guilin Lianghe, Beihai Fucheng, Liuzhou Baihe, and the much smaller Baise Tianyang and Quzhou Cheung Chau Island.
Rail
Guangxi’s railway network, which has long lagged behind that of neighboring provinces, is currently being developed and expanded. The province plans to spend RMB 300 billion on the construction of the railway between 2011 and 2015.
One key example of this is related to the development of trade with ASEAN countries. Guangxi plans to accelerate the construction of a high-speed railway from Nanning to Singapore via Vietnam in preparation for the Nanning-Singapore Economic Corridor.
The first step of this is a railway segment between Nanningand Pingxiang, a city near China’s border with Vietnam. The Corridor is planned to encompass Hanoi in Vietnam, Vientiane in Laos, Phnom Penh in Cambodia, Bangkok in Thailand, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, and Singapore.
Ports and Waterways
Guangxi’s main port is at Beibuwan (Gulf of Tonkin), which lies off the coast of northeastern Vietnam and has an annual goods throughput approximately that of Guangdong’s Zhanjiang and Fujian’s Xiamen (119 million tons). The province plans to raise the capacity of the port to over 330 million tons by the end of 2015, according to Guangxi’s development plan and Xinhua News Agency. In 2011, it invested heavily in terminal and navigation channel projects with the goal of turning the port into a hub for ASEAN trade.
