Devotion to a Regional Coal Trading Center in Asia Pacific

Beside the Lakeside Reservoirin Huli District of Xiamen，a special economic zone inSoutheast China's Fujianprovince， the construction of a coalfutures trading center is underway.It is expected to make Xiamen aregional coal trading center and liftits international status in the world'senergy sector.

The center，invested and organizedby Singapore-based Great East NaturalResources Investment Pte. Ltd.(hereinafter referred to as Great East)in cooperation with the EDFT (EDFTrading)， will also see release of a newinternational coal index， namely SouthChina CoalTrading Index.

\"It is necessary to build sucha coal futures trading center as it isbeneficial to standardize importedcoal operation， reduce the middlelinks and avoid risks for traders，\" PanYigi， president of Great East NaturalResources Investment Pte. Ltd.， toldChina's Foreign Trade.

\"It will be a service platform forcoal spot trading， coal futures tradingand supply chain integration，\" sheadded.

Acomprehensive trading center

Great East plans to build 6-8bonded coal stack areas and steamcoal bases in China's coastal ports.The coal spot trading aims to form theAsia-Pacific coal pricing index. Basedon the trade volume of spot goods ofthe EDFT's thermal coal ports， the center will providefinancial management and clearing services for it.

According to Pan， with a potential trading volumeof 60-100 million tons of thermal coal futures a year， thecenter will build itselfinto an international platform andform the Asia Pacific thermal coal trading index. Aninformationalized， standardized and open electronic coaltrading platform will also be established based on thespot trading and futures trading.

The coal supply chain platform will provideintegrated solution and services for trading throughintroducing and integrating financial and logisticsproviders， which includes offering information，impawning supervision， advance payment， settlement，inventory management， agent purchasing， forwardingagent， integrated logistics， etc.

\"It makes those possible by working with the en-ergy giants like the EDF and BHP Billiton，\" Pan said.

Founded in 1946， the EDF is a Fortune Global 500company with over 50 years of experience in energy de-velopment， known for its cutting-edge competitivenessin nuclear energy， thermal energy and renewable energy.

Headquartered in Singapore， Great East is also alarge-scale investment company engaged in capital ser-vices such as operations and management offinance andcapital market in the field of trade and energy.

Founded in 2000， Great East has set up manybranches across the world. Entering the Chinese marketin 2010， it has invested in several Faxin (Xiamen)Property Ltd. and Shuyang Antaile InvestmentManagement Ltd. Pan Yigi is president of thesecompanies.

The high buildings named Global Wealth Center，where the coal trading center is located， is scheduled tobe completed by the end of this year. Financial serviceswill also be provided in the center such as banking，securities futures， insurance， offshorefinance， incubation for overseas listingand financial training. The coal tradingcenter is to be put into use in threeyears.

\"Index in the Asia Pacific region\"

Trade in steam coal， also knownas thermal coal， has long been regardedas a catalyst for stimulating economicdevelopment of port cities. Index isseen as a barometer in coal trading inthe world.

The international coal index wascreated in the 1980s， and aims to reflectthe real-time change of the price ofthe coal and the market circumstances.Traders set the prices based on thisindex. The current major coal indexesare Richard offshore index， Londononshore index and Newcastle offshoreindex. The EDF took part in theconstruction of the world's three majorcoalindices.

However， \"So far there has beenno such coal index in the Asia Pacificregion， thus we feel we have to dosomething，\" said Pan.

Great East and the EDFT havecollaborated with Xiamen Univer-sity to establish a joint energy policyresearch institute to conduct research on South ChinaCoal Trading Index， and the institute may lay a theoreti-cal foundation for the world coal indexes. The index isexpected to enhance the city's reputation and influence inthe international energy sector， and give China more of avoice in international coal pricing.

Why Xiamen

Great East obtained the plot beside the LakesideReservoir for investment of the coal trading center inJanuary 2014. That Great East chose Xiamen as thelocation for the center is not without reason.

Pan， migrating to Singapore in early 1990s， was bornand raised up in Xiamen. Though leaving her motherlandfor decades of years， her hometown has always been inher mind. After investing some projects in China overthe years， she finally came to her hometown with greataspiration.

\"Once a local citizen of this city， I am so shocked byits economic and social development in recent years aftersetting foot on the land，\" said Pan.

\"Various factors contribute to the formation of theidea of setting up the center and it is underway not onlyfor my business， but also for the city we are grateful for，\"she said.

In 2010， the State Council， China's cabinet， officiallyapproved the establishment of a financial service centerin the city， namely the Cross Strait Financial Center. Asplanned， the 21-square-kilometer center in the northeastof the city， involving a total investment of 35 billion yuan($5.5 billion)， will be a springboard for financial companiesfrom Taiwan to expand their business on the mainland.It will also become a physical platform for cross-Straitsfinancial cooperation， conducting experiments andreforms such as developing the long-awaited monetarysettlement mechanism for cross-border trades. In this way， Xiamen willbecome a financial gateway to Taiwanby promoting economic and financialexchange between the mainland andTaiwan.

\"This provides us with historicalopportunities and we decide to settlehere since a financial center still haslinks with industries such as our bondedwarehouses and goods，\" said Pan.

In addition， \"The city has otherqualifications for the center such as its abundant naturalgreenery， mild climate and radiation ability as a main coaltrading centerin Southeast China，\" she added.

Imported coal has been surging in Xiamen and hasbeen transported to neighboring inland provinces. Datafrom the customs show that from January to October2014， the total imports of coal in the aty rose t0 11.205million tons worth 770 million US dollars， an increase of40.7% and 31.7% respectively year on year.

Still， \"We hope to build a coal trading platformwith upstream and downstream integration through theplatform of the China International Fair for Investmentand Trade (CIFIT) held in Xiamen，\" she said.

The CIFIT， approved by the State Council， takesplace in September every year in the city. Themed on\"Introducing FDI\" and \"Going Global\"， it focuses on na-tionality and internationality， investment negotiation andinvestment policy promotion， coordinated development ofnational and regional economy， as well as economic andtrade exchanges across the Taiwan Strait.Passion for traditional culture

When summarizing the factors contributing to hersuccess in business， Pan said: \"Devotion， insistence， hardwork， and believing in Nature.\"

Living in Singapore where the majority of thepopulation are Chinese， she is often impressed bythe culture of filial piety and ancestral hall inheritedgeneration after generation which makes the society andfamilies more harmonious and peaceful. It occurs to herthat she should do something to preserve and inherit theChinese traditional culture across the world， which maybe called going global of Chinese culture.

\"Developing cultural soft power is as important asdoing business，\" said Pan.

By chance， she got to know a Bud-dhist temple in Shuyang County in thenorthern part of East China's JiangsuProvince-Yuanjue Buddhist Templein 2012. Shuyang is known for its longhistory of Buddhist culture which datesback to Yuan Dynasty and boomed inMing Dynasty.

\"Investing in Buddhist culture andphilanthropy is a way for preservingand inheriting the Chinese traditionalculture like filial piety，\" Pan noted.

She decided to invest in thetemple and set up a company-Shuy-ang Antaile Investment ManagementLtd.， to build it into a charity platformwhich includes worshiping Budda，life memorial (service for funeral andinterment)， old people's home and sil-ver hair industry. The reconstructionof the temple begun in early 2013 andis well on its way to completion. Thecompany was listed on Shanghai Eq-uity Exchange Center on Dec. 1， 2014.Soon it will be listed in Hong Kong.

\"Integrating Chinese culture offilial piety and ancestral hall， the com-pany aims to contribute to the inheri-tance oftraditional culture and buildingof harmonious society，\" said Pan， add-ing that \"In the future， we will establishthe companys service standards andfranchising system to expand to otherareas and make it a leader in this fieldin China.\"