Deepened China-ASEAN cooperation peps up border city

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 ◆ Deepened China-ASEAN cooperation peps up border city

The establishment of a free trade area between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will bring new life to Dongxing City in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Li Guidong, mayor of the city bordering Vietnam, said it was aimed at turning the city into a bridgehead, making the cultural and economic exchanges between China and ASEAN much closer.

So far, the city government has invested two billion yuan on infrastructural construction and prolonged the working time for customs clearance.

The city's average annual border trade volume has remained around two billion yuan (about 241 million US dollars) for years, which is more than half of Guangxi's total border trade volume.

Six China-Vietnam commodities trade fairs have been held in the city with a population of 110,000. More than 20 delegations and representatives from more than 600 industrial and commercial enterprises have attended the fair this year.

Being the only city in southern China sharing both land and sea borders with ASEAN members, Dongxing is considered the most convenient land and sea port in southeast Asia.

In 2001, some two million tourists and business people left or entered into China through the city.

The Dongxing city government plans to make the city a pilot area for the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area agreement, proposed last November.

Founded in 1967, ASEAN's membership now consists of all the 10 southeast Asian nations, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.