Sino-Malaysian trade China's Premier Wen Jiabao and Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak at the signing ceremony and inauguration of the China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park, on Oct 21. Wu Zhiyi / China Daily

Guangxi, China-Malaysia business seminar taking place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on April 6, where leaders of the Guangxi region and city of Qinzhou took part. A signing ceremony for the China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park was held on Oct 21.

In recent years, Malaysia has been China's largest trading partner in the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and a new industrial park in Guangxi reflects the degree to which that bilateral trade relationship has grown.

In 2010, trade between China and Malaysia amounted to $74.2 billion, or eight times the amount for 2000.

The new China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park is planned for the Guangxi Beibu Gulf Economic Zone, in the city of Qinzhou, in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

Qinzhou has good access to the sea and to ASEAN countries and is arranging a deepwater channel for ships of 300,000 deadweight tons.

By the end of this year, there will be a high-speed rail link to shorten the journey from Qinzhou to Nanning, the capital of Guangxi.

And now that the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) was set up, Qinzhou is becoming even more interesting to investors, both in China and abroad.

In recent years, Qinzhou has been improving its infrastructure and investment environment with the idea of turning itself into a modern city that is ideal for living and business. And it wants to be a regional hub that focuses on China-ASEAN cooperation in shipping, logistics, industrial development, and trade.

The roots of this development go back to 2009, when Malaysia's Foreign Trade Promotion Institute and the Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce for Economic and Trade suggested that Qinzhou establish an industrial, logistics park.

Then, last year, thanks to the cooperation of China's Ministry of Commerce and Malaysia's Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Qinzhou began working in that direction.

On April 28 of this year, at the Malaysia-China Economic, Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum, in Malaysia, China's Premier Wen Jiabao pointed out that the China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park will be the first Sino-Malaysian deal of its kind in that part of China.

It could turn out to be a landmark in Sino-Malaysian trade cooperation, Wen said, and, the Chinese government is welcoming any and all enterprises to join in the planning and development of the park.

Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak also expressed Malaysia's support for the proposal.

The park has a planned area of about 55 square kilometers. A bilateral cooperation and development framework has been drawn up so that everyone benefits in accordance with the "guided by government, operated by enterprises, driven by projects, and aimed at shared interest" principle.

The park will have the following areas: industrial district, residential district, service district, production center, living area, and scientific and technological service district.

It consists of three phases. The first phase for residences and office buildings on a 15-sq-km space, in the southeastern part; the second is the living service center, industrial district and residential district on an 18.1-sq-km space, in the central part; and the third, with an ecological district and part of the industrial district on 22.2 sq km of land in the north.

The industrial park is designed as an advanced manufacturing base, a modern cultural area, and a model of Sino-Malaysian, and China-ASEAN, cooperation.

It will also become an important place for exchanges by enterprises and investors from ASEAN and all over the world.

Zhang Xiaoqin, Qinzhou's Party secretary, said that the China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park will focus on integrated manufacturing, information technology and modern services.

"I believe it will be an international industrial park whose virtues are competition, technology, and low-carbon emissions with a concerted effort from both sides. It will be a model of cooperation in the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area."

Plan of the China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park.

Map of the Industrial Park area.

(China Daily 10/22/2011 page6)