China-Vietnam Connectivity on Policy,Transportation and Trade Ushering in a Bright Future

The Chinese Party and Political Delegation led by Lu Xinshe， Secretary of CPC Committee of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region， visited China-Vietnam border and Vietnam， and met Vietnam-based enterprises in Spring during March 19-22， 2019. Against this background， Guangxi is becoming an important force for connectivity between China and Vietnam， and releasing its energies by virtue of the opportunity of connectivity development between the two countries.

China-Vietnam connectivity on transportation

Under the joint witness of Chinese delegation under the leadership of Lu Xinshe and relevant Vietnam officials， the Second Beilun River Bridge at Dongxing （China）-Mong Cai Port （Vietnam） was open to traffic on March 19. And the opening ceremony of special cargo transportation channel between Puzhai， China and Tan Thanh， Vietnam was held successfully on March 21.

The bridge and the channel are significant achievements made by two countries for practical cooperation， and play an important role in personnel entry-exit， realizing people-cargo separation of port custom clearance， strengthening cooperation on economy and trade， improving port traffic conditions and boosting border trade.

It is learned that as people and cargo entered and exited Dongxing Port increase， China-Vietnam Beilun River Bridge could no longer meet demands of port development， and the status of “people-cargo co-existence” hinders the custom clearance efficiency of Dongxing Port. After the Second Beilun River Bridge is open to traffic， the goods and trucks entering/exiting Dongxing Port will pass through it. By then， the “people-cargo separation” will further improve the safety of customs clearance， and greatly shorten custom clearance procedures and time.

Moreover， in order to bring effectiveness of the bridge and channel into full play in custom clearance efficiency acceleration. The local custom takes this opportunity to adjust customs clearance procedures or upgrade equipment to tackle the difficulties in customs clearance process.

As introduced by Huang Xiong， Deputy Director of Dongxing Customs， the temporary cargo inspection venue of the Second Beilun River Bridge is launched as supervision venue of the Customs and meanwhile Luofu Cargo Yard is stopped to solve the problems of long customs clearance time caused by far cargo yard. The customs clearance time for goods import and export will be shortened greatly， and single customs clearance time for single batch of cargo may at least save 30 mins. The Dongxing Customs predicts that the freight volume in Dongxing Port will increase over 50% every year.

Pingxiang， the cutting-edge and most convenient land channel of China facing ASEAN， also strengthens facilities connectivity with Vietnam from the aspect of infrastructures. Wang Xiaoqing， Chief of Supervision Section III， Pingxiang Customs， said that after Puzhai （China）-Tan Thanh （Vietnam） special cargo channel is completed and put into operation， it will further improve the customs clearance efficiency of the port， ease passing pressure and meet cargo transportation demands of Puzhai （China）-Tan Thanh （Vietnam）， so as to make development of China-Vietnam border port logistics and border trade more convenient.

Nong Xueyi， a border trader， said： “the cargo entry will be faster and customs clearance will be more convenient and flexible. Earlier， one truck may be released for every half an hour or dozens of minutes， but now face recognition shortens customs clearance time to one or two minutes”.

Furthermore， with ceaseless improvement of infrastructures on the border of Guangxi and Vietnam and constant increase of customs clearance efficiency， the cooperation on cross-border and border trade and economy between the two countries will get rapid development.

Huang Yuxing， Deputy Director of Planning & Construction Department of Guangxi Dongxing National Key Development and Opening-up Pilot Zone Management Committee， and Office Director of Construction Headquarters of Dongxing （China）-Mong Cai （Vietnam） Cross-border Economic Cooperation Zone （Chinese Side）， introduced that the Second Beilun River Bridge is an important node for connectivity between Guangxi and ASEAN， and also a controlling project for construction of Dongxing （China）-Mong Cai （Vietnam） Cross-border Economic Cooperation Zone. The opening of the Second Bridge will further facilitate economic and trade exchanges and offer a larger pattern for opening-up in Guangxi.

“According to the planning， both countries cooperate to build Dongxing （China）-Mong Cai （Vietnam） Cross-border Economic Cooperation Zone on both sides of the Second Bridge of Beilun Bridge where persons， vehicles and cargo circulate freely; through cross-border economic cooperation， Chinese enterprises could truly realize complementary advantages， mutual benefits and win-win cooperation by virtue of resources and labor force bonus of ASEAN”， said Huang.

Meeting in Spring making new progress in policy communication

In recent years， great achievements are made in exchanges and cooperation between Guangxi and four border provinces in Vietnam. The development potential and space is still large. On March 21 and 22， the meeting of Party Committee Secretaries of Guangxi China and four border provinces of Vietnam was held in Lang Son. Lu Xinshe talked with Secretaries of Lang Son， Than Quang Ninh， Cao Bang and Ha Giang Provincial Party Committee， and they exchanged opinions deeply. The topic of deepening practical cooperation in key connectivity field became the focus in the meeting.

Representatives of Guangxi and Vietnam said they will guide each level of government to bring the effect of exchange and cooperation mechanism to full play， and jointly cooperate to enact “MOU Between Governments of China and Vietnam on Joint Development of the ‘Belt and Road and ‘Two Corridors and One Ring”; mainly drive the development of border trade and construction of connectivity channel， and actively push planning， setup and opening-up upgrading of ports and trade areas， and cross-border tourism cooperation; cooperatively carry out exchange and cooperation in aspects of convenient customs clearance， judiciary administration， and cross-border labor service; support each county and city on border and relevant departments to establish meeting mechanism and discuss and solve problems encountered in cooperation about each field; accelerate construction and cross-border economic and trade cooperation zone under guidance of the governments of both sides.

Guangxi Region Government signed the minute for “Speeding up Upgrading China Longbang （China）-Tra Linh Port （Vietnam） to International Port and Expanding to Naxi-Nanong Channel” with the Peoples Committee of Cao Bang; signed “Agreement on Opening Nongping （China）-Nong Lan （Vietnam） Border Market and China-Vietnam 504 Boundary Marker Zone Border Crossing” with the Peoples Committee of Ha Giang; Chongzuo Municipal Government signed MOU on establishing regular meeting and exchange mechanism with the Peoples Committee of Lang Son. The smooth communication for policies between both sides is guaranteed based on mechanisms.

Guangxi's enterprises ushering in a bright future with thriving China-Vietnam trade

As the connectivity construction between China and Vietnam is making great progress， Guangxi's enterprises gradually become a great power of Chinese enterprises seeking for development in ASEAN by virtue of the border advantages.

“They， who worked hard in a foreign country， not only develop themselves but also drive local economic development of Vietnam， showing favorable image of Guangxi's enterprises. They made positive contribution to friendship between China and Vietnam and in-depth cooperation of Guangxi and Vietnam”， said Lu Xinshe in a forum with over 20 Guangxi's enterprises invested in Vietnam when he visited Vietnam. Lu sufficiently affirmed the achievements made by Guangxi's enterprises in ASEAN countries.

Lu said this year is the first year of the “China-ASEAN Strategic Partnership Vision 2030”. Both countries are speeding up the construction of a closer China-ASEAN community， and the exchange and cooperation in all fields will be more intense. “The Vietnamese side replied actively to our suggestions on strengthening connectivity construction， improving convenient trade and investment level， making cultural exchange more frequent， and deepening border area cooperation; it is the perfect time for us to deeply develop in Vietnamese market with bright prospects”. Lu said.

Lu wishes Vietnam-based Guangxi's enterprises could actively participate in the construction of New Western Land-Sea Trade Corridor， and make full use of open platforms such as China-ASEAN Expo， financial opening-up portal facing ASEAN and China-ASEAN Information Harbor to further intensify trade between Guangxi and Vietnam， keep growing by deeply integrating to and actively serving the “Belt and Road” construction， and realize greater development in joint consulting， construction and sharing. Guangxi's enterprises should take the opportunity of rapid economic growth in Vietnam and ceaseless deepening of China-Vietnam economic and trade cooperation， make full use of advantages of Vietnam-based experiences to increase market share， and greatly develop new technologies， new mode and new business patterns with innovation and brand building while increasing scale and improving market share to ceaselessly improve independent innovation capacity and core competitiveness， make the enterprises stronger， brand famous and image better， actively propagandize Guangxi and contribute to friendly exchange and cooperation between China and Vietnam.