KUNMING, June 5 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese researcher
suggests Chinese companies in southern China look at investing in other Asian
countries where he says start-up costs and wages are much lower than on the
mainland.
Addressing a recent forum for businesses in the Pan
Pearl River Delta, You Aiqiong, a researcher with the Guangdong Provincial
Academy of Social Sciences, says that with a shortage of migrant workers in
Guangdong, labor-intensive businesses should take the advantage of a new
investment agreement being negotiated between China and ASEAN.
You cited a research by Hong Kong Exporters' Chamber
of Commerce which showed that launching a garment factory with 1,000 workers in
Viet Nam would require an investment between 6 million and 7 million Hong Kong
dollars. The same factory would cost several times that amount if it were on
China's mainland.
The Pan Pearl River delta region encompasses Hong
Kong, Macao and nine mainland provinces and autonomous regions accounting for
one fifth of the country's territory, and one third of China's population.
This year China is expected to conclude negotiations
on a China-ASEAN Free Trade Area. It will also provide developing countries with
10 billion U.S. dollars worth of preferential loans, one third of which will go
to ASEAN nations, said You.
Moreover, the Chinese Government will add an extra
five billion U.S. dollars worth of preferential loans to support Chinese
companies investing in member nations of the ASEAN. Enditem
