NANNING, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Five years ago, Wei Hanhui, an entrepreneur
from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southwest China, obtained a license for
the operation of a major iron mine in north Vietnam.
Now he makes an annual profit of about two million U.S. dollars from the
mine and employs over 500 local residents.
He has also encouraged Vietnamese businessmen to invest in China. One of them
has invested in the electronic products market in Yunnan Province and another
invested in an automobile accessory manufacturer in Hubei.
Wei's personal experience mirrors the growth of trade between China and
ASEAN countries, who are China's fifth largest trading partner after the
European Union, the United States and Japan.
According to Gao Hucheng, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce, the trade
volume between China and ASEAN countries topped 143 billion U.S. dollars for
the 12-month period from July 2005, up 22 percent on the previous 12 months
period.
By the end of 2005, over 1,000 Chinese non-financial enterprises had
invested in ASEAN countries in areas ranging from processing, construction,
hotels and mining, to electronics and transportation.
The Chinese Government will added another five billion U.S. dollars of
preferential loans in 2006 to encourage further investment, according to Xu
Ningning, Vice Secretary General of the China-ASEAN Business Council.
"Chinese companies will have more business opportunities as the Sino-ASEAN
free trade zone pick up pace in its building, and state favorable policies will
spur more businessmen to invest in ASEAN nations," said Gu Xiaosong, Vice
Chairman of the Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences.
Meanwhile, China has attracted a total of 38.5 billion U.S. dollars from
ASEAN countries. China is now the third largest trading partner of Singapore,
Thailand and the Philippines, the second largest of Myanmar and the number one
trading partner of Vietnam.
"China has not only played an important role in the expansion of our
foreign investment and export growth, but also set an example in economic reform
for us to learn from," said an economist from Vietnam surnamed Nguyen. Enditem
