‘Made in Jinan’： the Benefts of Construction in ASEAN Interview with Jinan Vice Mayor Zhang Haibo

By Tan Xingyu



‘Made in Jinan’： the Benefts of Construction in ASEAN Interview with Jinan Vice Mayor Zhang Haibo

By Tan Xingyu

On January 19， China-ASEAN activities to celebrate the coming Chinese Spring Festival （February 8） and facilitate cooperation were held in Beijing， co-sponsored by the China-ASEAN Business Council and ASEANCommittee Beijing.

As the capital of Shandong Province in North China， Jinan highlighted the theme of “Made in Jinan” in its activities. Jinan，a time-honored industrial city， is blessed with a solid foundation for manufacturing. Today， it strives to comply with the trend of China-ASEAN business cooperation， actively seeking to explore new opportunities in the region.

Tan Xingyu， a journalist from China Report ASEAN took the opportunity to seek an exclusive interview with Zhang Haibo，Vice Mayor of Jinan， to fnd out more about the business cooperation between the city and ASEAN.

CRA： Te ASEAN Community， ofcially founded on January 1， 2016， is the second regional community of politics， economy and culture to be created afer the EU. As ASEAN integration makes advances， it can be foreseen that the ASEAN Community will bring huge opportunities in China-ASEAN cooperation， and elevate the business relationship to a new stage. As a local government in China，how should Jinan seize such opportunities for development？

ZHANG HAIBO： The Jinan Municipal Government has actively implemented the Belt and Road Initiative， taken proactive measures to bring the city's comparative advantages into full play and made many breakthroughs. We encourage enterprises to exploit overseas markets， strive to be listed overseas， accomplish cross-border M&A， cooperate on R&D， carry out contract project overseas， and set up branch ofces.

Zhang Haibo， Vice Mayor of Jinan Municipal People's Government.

In recent years， Jinan has always taken ASEAN as its important strategic partner in opening wider to the outside world， and achieved rapid development in bilateral business cooperation. In the frst 10 months of 2015， our trade volume reached US$1.68 billion， achieving a double-digit increase year on year. We have enjoyed active bilateral investment. For instance， by 2014， Singapore had totally invested US$316.01 million and thus become the second largest foreign investor in Jinan. We have continuously expanded fields of cooperation to project contracting， making investment and industrial parks development.

Riding the tide of the deepening cooperation， Jinan is willing to work hand in hand with ASEAN countries to seek complementary advantages， promote international cooperation in our mutual capacities， facilitate bilateral investment， accelerate integration and development， and create new prospects for higher-level mutual beneft.

Firstly， we will encourage our enterprises to strengthen international cooperation in capacity， and lead competitive industries and equipment manufacturing industries in Jinan to invest in ASEAN countries.

Secondly， we will actively organize related enterprises to join in the construction of energy and traffic infrastructure in ASEAN countries so to support their sustainable development.

Thirdly， we will accelerate the bilateral investment， continue to build an array of industrial parks for business cooperation with unique features， and develop a cross-border industrial chain.

CRA： Different ASEAN countries have different degrees of economic development along with their own unique industrial structures. How will Jinan promote economic cooperation with diferent ASEAN countries according to their domestic conditions？

ZHANG HAIBO： We hope to make breakthroughs in sectors where we complement each other， share a sound cooperative foundation and enjoy mature conditions. With more than 600 million people， ASEAN is blessed with a large market and great potential. Economic development in different countries has varied features. Jinan and ASEAN greatly complement each other in bilateral industrial structure， and thereforehave broad prospects for win-win cooperation. To be specific， we will take active measures to carry out diferentiated ways of business cooperation.

As for Singapore， an economically developed country， we hope to strengthen investment and cooperation on high-tech，modern fnance and service in logistics.

As for Malaysia， Tailand， Indonesia and the Philippines， we encourage enterprises to expand cooperation on high-tech， and seek to take advantage of the complementary advantages of local businesses.

As for economically developing countries， such as Vietnam， Laos， Myanmar and Cambodia， we will encourage enterprises to act as an exporter of capital， technology and equipment， invest to establish factories， set up industrial parks and promote the industrial transformation and upgrading of the targeted countries.

In the meantime， we will also ofer support by importing more industrial chemicals，minerals， animal and vegetable oils， rubber，and agricultural products from ASEAN.

CRA： In 2015， what achievements were made in Jinan in accelerating overseas deployment， implementing the Belt and Road Initiative， establishing bilateral and multilateral FTAs， and founding bases and industrial parks overseas？

ZHANG HAIBO： Jinan is operating on a clear strategy to promote the Jinan brand overseas. Focusing on the Belt and Road Initiative， we have adopted some detailed measures and made some achievements.

Firstly， we helped transnational enterprises to grow stronger. We have focused on typical transnational enterprises with a large scale that produce good profts and are equipped with strong competitiveness and driving force， and have gradually developed the development mode of setting headquarters in Jinan， building bases overseas， and marketing across the globe.

Secondly， we encouraged the establishment of marketing branches overseas. We directed and helped enterprises to build their independent marketing network and distribution channels by way of founding marketing ofces overseas and taking a stake in， and purchasing the resources of， overseas sales network.

China National Heavy Duty Truck Group， established in 1956， is now China's largestheavy duty truck producer. Its products are exported to ASEAN to support their infrastructure construction.

Thirdly， we guide enterprises to integrate engineering and trade. We have helped them to turn from simply carrying out construction work towards project contracting， operation and equipment marketing. This has proved to be a boon for them to extend the industrial chain of overseas contracted engineering， and promote technology， services and equipment to “go global”.

Fourthly， we have fostered and built industrial parks and industrial resource bases overseas. We accelerated the pace in building solar energy product bases， computer device bases， sylvite resource bases， iron ore resource bases， and gold resource bases.

Today， the China （Jinan） Agricultural Park in Sudan， the China （Jinan） Heavy Truck Industrial Park in Nigeria， the China（Jinan） Industrial Park in Mozambique and the China （Jinan） Agricultural Park in Ukraine have begun to take shape.

CRA： In the coming year， what will Jinan do to cooperate with ASEAN？

ZHANG HAIBO： The Jinan Municipal Government plans to reach an agreement on strategic cooperation with the ASEAN Business Council， which is an important measure to carry out more regional business activities. Thanks to the ASEAN Business Council， we will promote industrial cooperation between Jinan and ASEAN， facilitate industrial exchanges， and build a longterm cooperative mechanism with ASEAN countries. For example， both sides will help related industrial cooperative committees to settle down in Jinan， making the city a crucial area for China to cooperate with ASEAN on related industries.

We will further promote competitive enterprises in Jinan to make investments and carry out import-export trade with ASEAN countries， and cooperate more fully in regard to bilateral investment and trade. We will encourage enterprises in Jinan to go to ASEAN countries for exchanges in business， helping “made in Jinan” to “go global”. We will help construction enterprises in Jinan to participate in ASEAN infrastructure projects. We will encourage them to build business cooperative parks and industrial cluster zones in the felds of machinery equipment， transportation equipment，food and drug production in countries like Malaysia， Indonesia， Myanmar， Cambodia and Vietnam.

In addition， we will publicize the investment climate in Jinan and its investment projects， ensure the city takes an active part in the “upgrading of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area” and the building of the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road， and participates in upgrading the Workshop on China-ASEAN FTA， the China-ASEAN 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road Forum，and the China-ASEAN Food Industry Cooperation Forum.