“Swift Horse” Gallops far to Seek Its “Pak Lok”-- The BGEZ to Reap Rich Fruits Again in Investment in Zhejiang

written Lin Han / translated by Ma Jinyu

“Swift Horse” Gallops far to Seek Its “Pak Lok”
-- The BGEZ to Reap Rich Fruits Again in Investment in Zhejiang

written Lin Han / translated by Ma Jinyu

As an old Chinese saying goes, “Swift horses are usually found but not the same as ‘Pak Lok’”(the person who has good judgment to spot a pure breed horse that can sustain longdistance rides), which means that talents are everywhere, however seldom can they be recognized. Pak Lok is important, but swift horses still need to show more initiative to grasp the chances.

On October 27, 2015, Zhejiang Entrepreneurs• Guangxi Beibu Gulf Investment Round-table Conference was held in Hangzhou (Zhejiang Province, China), which has ignited the spark of partnership between Zhejiang entrepreneurs and Guangxi Beibu Gulf Economic Zone (BGEZ).

The Combination of Beibu Gulf and Zhejiang Entrepreneurs

Like Rome, the BGEZ was not built in a day. With rich resources and unique location advantages as its foundations, urban integration and reform as its powerful impetuses, it has become increasingly strong after rapid development of a decade, embracing the opportunity to be the forefront for China-ASEAN opening-up and cooperation as well as the gateway of the Belt and Road. Zhejiang entrepreneurs, creators of wealth, have brought about a great upsurge in investment wherever they went, gaining a reputation as the “Pak Lok” who has good judgment to spot the location for investment.

The BGEZ and Zhejiang entrepreneurs seem to match each other so neatly based on their respective needs.

Zhejiang is located in Yangtze River Delta region, where private economy is the most vigorous in China. It features massive economy which has the obvious advantages of industrial clusters and modern manufacturing, and performs as the leader in internetcentered modern service industry. However, its development is hampered under realistic conditions.“It is one of the pain points that we are short of land and space. The inevitable choice for us is to find a new territory for development outside Zhejiang,”said Mr. Yue Yang, Deputy Director of Economic and information Commission of Zhejiang Province.

On October 5, 2015, Mrs. Tu Youyou won the Nobel Prize for discovering artemisinin, a drug that has signifi cantly reduced the mortality rates for patients suff ering from malaria. As the biggest producer, Holley Group produces 70% of the world’s artemisinin. Mr.Wang Licheng, Chairman of Holley Group shared his experience in the conference.

He stated that the Belt and Road helped enterprises accelerate their pace to develop outside China. He added, “If we fail in ASEAN, then it is almost impossible to succeed in other overseas markets. Guangxi Beibu Gulf is essential to open up the market in ASEAN countries.”

The passionate speech by Mr. Wang is a signal to begin a new chapter of “Beibu Gulf + Zhejiang entrepreneurs”. Mr. Zhu Renhua, President of Zheshang National Council and Editor-in-Chief of Zheshang Magazine also shared his opinions. He claimed, “Zhejiang entrepreneurs have strong economic strengths, the best talents and advanced management experience. The ASEAN-oriented cooperation between Zhejiang and Guangxi will benefi t both sides as they complement each other’s advantages.”

Ample Business Opportunities to Attract Investment

During the conference, Mr. Wang voiced his concern, “As the largest benefi ciary of the Belt and Road Initiative, is Guangxi ready to embrace real change ?” The Belt and Road Initiative needs a carrier to put itself into action and the industrial park is the best choice. 6 representatives from the 14 economic industrial parks in BGEZ fl ied to Zhejiang to promote marine biological medicine, new materials and high-end equipment manufacturing industry, etc.

Located in BGEZ and Pearl River-Xijiang River Economic Belt, National Nanning Economic & Technological Development Area attracted 36 biomedicine-based enterprises (projects) to set up there as of September, 2015, Mr. Li Yucheng, Deputy Director of Management Committee of National Nanning Economic & Technological Development Area, introduced.

“We are facing with significant opportunities as China and Guangxi attach great importance to the development of traditional Chinese medicine,” said Mr. Li Guang, Director of Yulin Traditional Chinese Medicine Health Industry Garden, in the interview with our reporter.

As one of the ports of departure of Maritime Silk Road, Beihai Tieshan Port Industrial Park enjoys unique natural advantages.“We will try to attract more downstream enterprises engaged in kitchen utensils and appliances, decoration, medical and health, thus to build ourselves into a one-hundred-billion yuan industrial park in BGEZ,” Mr. Sun Xu, Executive Deputy Director of Management Committee of Beihai Tieshan Port Industrial Park, pointed out the park’s future direction.

Fangchenggang city, known as the “Portal in Southwest China” and the “Pearl in Borderland”, strives to develop its industrial parks. Mr. Huang Hongyou, Deputy Director of Management Committee of Fangchenggang Big Southwest Lin’gang Industrial Zone, made a presentation about the development of iron and steel, and non-ferrous metals industry and also expressed his will to put more eff orts to cultivate the industrial cluster of stainless steel and extend the chain of non-ferrous metals.“Enterprises in our park will enjoy our high-quality services, more open environment and liberal policies,” said Mr. Qin Qiyong, Secretary of the Party Working Committee of Yulin Longtan Industrial Park.

The ASEAN-oriented national platforms including Qinzhou Port Economic & Technological Development Zone, China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park and Qinzhou Free Trade Port Area have guaranteed the development of manufacturing industries, according to Mr. Wei Peng, Deputy Director of of Management Committee of Qinzhou Port Economic & Technological Development Zone.

Mr. Li Yanqiang, Executive Deputy

Director of Beibu Gulf Economic Zone & Cooperation with ASEAN Off i ce of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region:

“We are stepping up our rule-making in non-ferrous metallurgical industry and petrochemical industry, so as to simplify procedures, optimize the environment for development and improve our governance capacity.”

Be Bold to be the Pioneers

Industries like high-end equipment, biopharmaceutical and new material promoted in the conference are included into Guangxi’s onehundred-billion yuan industrial program and enjoy obvious advantages. “We are stepping up our rulemaking in non-ferrous metallurgical industry and petrochemical industry, so as to simplify procedures, optimize the environment for development and improve our governance capacity,” said Mr. Li Yanqiang, Executive Deputy Director of Beibu Gulf Economic Zone & Cooperation with ASEAN Office of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The BGEZ demonstrates its firm determination in investment in face of new opportunities. Mr. Wang Licheng highly valued the opportunities in the BGEZ, as he stated, “We will find a vast new market in Guangxi if we can invest there with our excess but promising industries.”

As a matter of fact, plenty of gold diggers from Zhejiang rushed to Beibu Gulf to seek fortune many years ago. By taking Zhejiang as the production base and Guangxi as the trade and logistics platform, Zhejiang entrepreneurs are expanding their business to Southeast Asia and South Asia.

In 2008, Ningbo Yinyi Group Co., Ltd., China's top 500 enterprises, made a full investigation in every aspect of the GBEZ and then invested 1.5 billion yuan in establishing Guangxi Yinyi Science and Technic Mine Metallurgy Co., Ltd. in Yulin Longtan Industrial Park. In the conference, Mr. He Jianping, Vice President of Ningbo Yinyi Group Co., Ltd. shared his investment experience in the BGEZ and introduced the great achievement and opportunities brought by BGEZ.

If we compare the BGEZ to be a swift horse, the industrial parks are like its bones and muscles to help it more sturdy to get ready for the challenges. Zhejiang entrepreneurs, as the BGEZ’s “Pak Lok”, show their great interests in BGEZ. According to the principals of the industrial parks, several agreements of intention are achieved through the conference, which is unprecedented in the past.

Opportunities have brought the Beibu Gulf in the spotlight. The combination of Beibu Gulf and Zhejiang entrepreneurs is almost upon us. We have vast areas in the BGEZ to be cultivated and developed. And there will be legends to be created by “Swift Horse” and “Pak Lok” .