ByXIECHUANJIAO inQingdao
and OUYANGSHIJIA and MASI
inBeijing
A
demonstrationareaunder
construction inQingdao,
Shandong province, is
expected to add momen-
tum to cooperation betweenChina
and theShanghaiCooperationOrga-
nization, as highlighted recentlyat
the ninth meeting of theCommunist
PartyofChina’s central committee
for deepening overall reform.
The building of the demonstration
areaforeconomicandtradecoopera-
tion betweenChina and theSCOis
aimed at creating a new platform for
international cooperation under the
Belt andRoadInitiative and expand-
ing cooperation in areas including
internationallogistics,moderntrade,
two-wayinvestment, and business,
tourism and cultural exchanges,
accordingtothemeeting’sstatement.
The countrywill promoteQing-
dao’s role in the construction of the
economic corridor of theNewEur-
asianContinentalBridge under the
Belt andRoadInitiative and mari-
timecooperation,thestatementsaid.
“It marksChina’s determination
to continue deepening reform and
opening-up,” saidShenChi, vice-
directorandprofessorofurbanplan-
ning at theChinaCenter forUrban
Development of theNational Devel-
opment andReformCommission.
“Despite the pushback against
globalization in the world,China is
committed to further opening up
instead of pursuing development
with the door closed.”
Shen said the building of a dem-
onstration area inQingdao will help
boost economic growth in countries
and regions along theNewEurasian
ContinentalBridge.
“Qingdao is a major port cityin
northernChina, with the northwest-
ernChina region as its vast hinter-
land for development.Setting up
a demonstration area inQingdao,
the port will extend to moreSCO
countries, offering them a keygate-
wayto thePacificOcean.And it will
help boost local economic develop-
ment and improve interconnectivity
amongSCOcountries,”Shen added.
China announced plans to set up
the demonstration area during the
SCOsummit held inQingdao in
June 2 0 18.
Located inJiaozhou, which forms
part ofQingdao, the demonstration
area has launched 1 7 major projects
with a total investment of 13 billion
yuan ($1.85 billion).Eight new proj-
ects are expected to comeinto opera-
tion in the near future.
Thedemonstration area has a
multimodal transportation center,
which is well connected to countries
andregionsinvolvedintheBRI,with
10 domestic and eight international
freight train services.
Mei Xinyu,aresearcher at theChi-
neseAcademyofInternationalTrade
andEconomicCooperation of the
MinistryofCommerce, highlighted
Qingdao’s distinctive geographical
advantage, saying it will be a key
starting point at the eastern end
of theNewEurasianContinental
Bridge.
“TheSCOwas originallycre-
ated to combat terrorism and pro-
tect security, and the organization
has effectivelyaccomplished those
tasks,”Mei said. “Todaywe are able
to expand its role to focus on topics
relatedtoeconomicdevelopment.As
the world’s second-largest economy,
China is becoming an increasingly
important driving force to boost the
regional development of surround-
ing countries.”Decisiverole
Mei said the keyis to leverage the
decisive role of markets in resources
allocation, andSCOcountries need
to step up efforts to create a better
business environment and establish
business consciousness.
According to him, the demon-
stration area will offerChina more
opportunities to compete globally,
and provide safe and efficient large-
volume transportation services.
Logistics facilities playa leading
role in the construction of the dem-
onstration area and giveQingdao
easier access toSCO-related coun-
tries, saidHaoGuoxin, a senior offi-
cial of the demonstration area.
“The demonstration area has an
advantageous position as it takes
onlyabout 15 minutes to reach the
nearest railway, highway, seaport or
airport,” saidHao, adding that it has
become an important hub connect-
ingJapan,SouthKorea and otherparts of theAsia-Pacific region in the
east,CentralAsia andEurope in the
west,SouthAsia and theAssociation
ofSoutheastAsianNations in the
south, as well asMongolia andRus-
sia in the north.
Thisyear, theChina-CentralAsia
freighttrain service has made about
100 journeys.
WhenAndreyBelousov, aRussian
businessman, opened a factoryin
Jiaozhou in 2 000 , he did not think
transportation to his homeland
would be as convenient and fast as
it is today.
Belousov’s companymainlyman-
ufactures pipes for air-conditioners
and water heating systems, 95 per-
cent of which are exported to over-
seas markets. “Thanks to freight
trains, our company’s sales have
increased substantially,” he said.
“Our companycan go through
customs procedures inJiaozhou and
it usuallytakes 2 0 days to transport
our goods toMoscow and two more
daystoSt.Petersburg,”saidBelousov.
“Previouslyit took 35 to 4 0 daysby
marine transportation.”
His company’s products are now
sold in more than 2 0 countries and
regions includingRussia,Kazakh-
stan,theUnitedKingdom,Germany,
SouthAfrica and theMiddleEast.
“Mybusiness partners are envious
of the favorable transportation con-
ditions here,” saidBelousov, adding
that he spends about 70 percent of
his time inQingdao because of his
busyschedule.
FromJanuarytoJune, freight
trains transported 352, 000 standard
containers, an increase of 55 percent
from the same period lastyear.
Now the demonstration area’s
operators are eyeing more business
opportunities.“Trade enterprises have become a
dynamic part of the demonstration
area, said Wei Xuelun, deputygen-
eral manager of theQingdao center
ofChinaRailwayContainerTrans-
portCorp.
According to Wei, more than 1 0
enterprises across the countryhave
set up offices there and over 5 0 mar-
ket entities are operating freight
businesses.The demonstration area
has also signed contracts with trad-
ing platforms that usuallydeal with
large amounts of commodities.
Currently, the demonstration area
is home to 228 trade companies and
hasencouraged them to invest in
SCO-related countries and expand
overseas markets.To date, there are
13 investment projects and the val-
ue of their exports and imports has
reached $1. 0 8 billion.
FromJanuarytoJune, invest-
ments recorded an increase of 35. 7
percent and exports and imports
increased14.5percentfromthesame
period lastyear.Strategicsignificance
The firstSCO QingdaoForum on
LocalEconomic andTradeCoopera-
tion and the firstSCO International
Trade andInvestmentFairwere held
fromMay24 to 26 inQingdao.
The demonstration area has a
great strategic significance and can
improve trade among theSCOcoun-
tries and intensifymutual trust and
benefits,saidSCO Secretary-General
VladimirNorov at the forum.
“The economic potential ofSCO
countries has notyet been fully
developed,”Norov said.
During the event, a memoran-
dum of understanding was signed
betweentheQingdaodemonstration
zone andKazakhInvest, a nationalcompanythat aims to attract foreign
investment.
Six trade representative offices
have been set up inSCO-related
countries to enhance economic ties
with the demonstration area.At the
same time, an international com-
mercial center has been established
to attract chambers of commerce
and industryfromSCO-related
countries.
The demonstration area also
offers legal and financial services.
Alegal service committee has been
established to guarantee a fair and
efficient business environment.A
financial center was unveiled last
December and cooperative contracts
were signed with 1 0 financial orga-
nizations to launch a fund worth 1 0
billionyuan.
ZhaoShiyu, director of the
QingdaoCommercialBureau, said
the demonstrationzone will have a
bigeffectonthereformandopening-
up process inQingdao.
Shen from theChinaCenter for
UrbanDevelopment said building
thedemonstrationareaispartofChi-
na’s larger efforts to deepen reforms.
“Once successfullyconstructed,
we can share experiences and set
up similar demonstration areas in
otherportcitiesalongtheeastcoast,”
Shen said.
During the ninth meeting of the
CPCcentral committee for deep-
ening overall reform, the central
authoritiesalsoapprovedaguideline
on supportingShenzhen,Guang-
dong province, in building a pilot
demonstration area of socialism
withChinese characteristics.
In the development of theShen-
zhen pilot demonstration area,
the statement said it will fulfill the
requirements of high-qualitydevel-
opment, implement the innovation-
driven development strategy, seize
important opportunities in the
development of theGuangdong-
HongKong-MacaoGreaterBayArea,
andstrive to create a model cityfor a
great modern socialist country.
CompaniesinShenzhenareemerg-
ingasleadersininnovationwhichare
pouring resources into research and
development and are eager to experi-
ment with pioneering applications.
HuaweiTechnologiesCohas
invested about $2 billion in theR&D
of 5Gsince 2 00 9, which makes it a
leader in commercializing the fifth-
generation wireless technology.Ren
Zhengfei, founder andCEOofHua-
wei, said in a recent interview that
“rivals will not be able to catch up
withHuawei’s 5Gtechnologyfor two
to threeyears”.
TheChinese technologygiant had
signed more than 5 05 Gcommercial
contractsacrosstheworldbythemid-
dle ofJuly, including 28 inEurope.Contact the writers at
[email protected]ZonecreatesplatformtospurconnectivityamongShanghaiCooperationOrganizationcountries
DemonstrationareaboostsSCOties
An employee guides cargo conveyance at the Qingdao demonstration area for economic and trade
cooperation between China and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.TANGKE/FORCHINADAILY12 BUSINESS August 9-15, 2019 CHINA DAILY GLOBAL WEEKLY