A Welcoming Border

Wang Fang

The bridge over Beilun River， which passes through Dongxing on the China-Vietnam border， is bustling with fully-loaded trucks and hurried businesspeople by dawn every day. Residents on each bank of the Beilun River—Dongxing in China on one side and Mong Cai， Vietnam on the other—are shaping and capitalizing on border trade between the two countries.

As China opened its door to the outside world， it commenced border trade with neighboring Myanmar， Vietnam and Laos by the early 1990s. Facilitated by the evolution of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area， booming border trade is boosting local economies in the border areas and improving living standards. It also fosters friendship and exchange on an equal and mutually beneficial basis between China and ASEAN member states.

In early 1992， the State Council， Chinas cabinet， approved the opening-up of 13 border cities. Among them， Ruili and Hekou in Yunan Province and Dongxing and Pingxiang in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region started trading with neighboring ASEAN member states.

Opening-up

Bordering Myanmar， Laos and Vietnam， southwest Chinas Yunnan Province enjoys an ideal geography for opening-up. At the outset of reform and opening-up， the province commenced from border trading as a gateway to Southeast Asian countries.

When the port of Ruili was officially established in December 1990， border trade was already flourishing for the government， private sector and individuals. Embraced by Myanmar on three sides， Ruili is the largest and busiest Chinese trade port for Myanmar and spearheads the countrys foreign trade at the border.

Lian Dong was one of the earliest businessmen to arrive in Ruili after leaving eastern Wenzhou City. By taking advantage of local supporting policies， he nurtured a successful trading company selling affordable Chinese electronic products to Laos and Cambodia.

Myanmar native Ke Maohmin has lived in Ruili for nearly 20 years and witnessed the city grow from a remote border town to an experimental field for opening-up. He supported a family of seven by running a jewelry business. “I can live a stable life here，” he reveals. “Thanks to the favorable policies， doing business is convenient. My goods primarily come from Muse.”

“Muse” is the Muse Special Economic Zone in Myanmar. Mirroring Chinas practice， Myanmar waived customs within 15 kilometers from the border and launched the Muse Special Economic Zone. In 2000， Ruili launched a cross-border trade zone in Jiegao， the first and only of its kind in China. The zone offers massive tax cuts and fast and convenient customs clearance for imports and exports.

Tang Sailong built a factory to produce rosewood furniture in Mandalay， Myanmar， back in 1996. He returned to his hometown of Ruili in 2003 with hundreds of Myanmar employees in tow， who have been working in Ruili for more than a decade. At Tangs Ruili-based company， 820 of 920 employees hail from Myanmar， some 200 of whom married local residents and started a family.

Local authorities note that the workforces in Ruili are made up of local residents， Myanmar employees and migrant workers from other provinces of China.

To safeguard legal rights and interests of Myanmar workers in China and promote friendly exchange between the two countries， the local government in Ruili established a service and administration center for foreigners in May 2013， offering one-stop services for foreigners living and working in the city.

Statistics published by the center showed that a total of 75，702 Myanmar people had registered to work in Ruili as of March 31， 2018.

Innovative Practices

As Chinas only provincial region connected to ASEAN countries by both land and sea， Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is the frontier of Chinas opening-up to ASEAN. After the reform and opening-up was introduced， border trade in Guangxi took off and has flourished through innovation.

“We used to line up at banks to conduct currency exchange or resort to the black market，” admits businessman Tan in Dongxing. “Now， we can use renminbi to settle， and everything takes only about 10 minutes.” After transferring payment， merchants like Tan receive a bill of lading immediately and can head directly to the warehouse to pick up the goods.

Chinese merchants are not alone in finding cross-border renminbi settlement convenient. “In the past， it took a couple of hours to send money to Vietnam， but now it happens in a few minutes，” insists a vendor from Vietnam selling hometown specialties in Dongxing.

Using renminbi in cross-border trade settlement is part of comprehensive financial reform to facilitate border trade in Guangxi. Since launching the pilot in 2013， Dongxing has witnessed volume of personal cross-border renminbi settlement surpass 30 billion yuan （US$4.4 billion）， six times higher than the national average.

Fostering New Business Model

China and Vietnam have adopted a host of practices to boost cross-border trade such as the unified customs clearance， streamlined registration and approval procedure for businesses， ASEAN platform currency services and the ASEAN center for cross-border insurance. While promoting local economies， these institutions are honing nationwide models for China-ASEAN economic cooperation based on their experience.

Chongzuo is the border city in Guangxi with the most ports of entry to China. Small-scale border trade in the city account for one fourth of Chinas total. In 2017， the figure amounted to 63.1 billion yuan， 24 percent of the national total.

Innovation and cooperation have helped boost cross-border trade. In 2006， Friendship Pass opened as the first e-port in southeastern China and the most effective and largest port to ASEAN nations in Guangxi. As the Belt and Road Initiative advances， the pass is rising as the most important gateway connecting China and ASEAN countries. Currently， Chongzuo is working to foster new business models for border trade.

In 2017， construction of a great number of major infrastructure projects accelerated. A dedicated freight corridor connecting China and Vietnam through Friendship Pass opened and then was expanded to serve Puzhai， which links directly to ports in Vietnam.

Improved infrastructure has propelled small-scale border trade and the processing industry to boom. In 2017， over 40 export-oriented manufacturing enterprises above designated size generated output of 7.04 billion yuan （US$1.03 billion）， a year-on-year increase of 122.2 percent.

After years of exploration， border cities like Dongxing and Chongzuo have transformed the previously trade model featuring roadside selling into a network of industrialized business. The ports cities have also evolved into international industrial zones integrating trade， processing industry and tourism.

E-commerce Injecting Vitality

With mushrooming bilateral trades between China and ASEAN countries， e-commerce has witnessed exponential growth and injected new vitality into traditional border trade.

Enhancing partnerships with Myanmar in e-commerce is part of Ruilis endeavors to foster new business models. In September 2017， Grand Star， a Ruili-based logistics service provider， launched an independently developed digital platform for cross-border logistics with versions in Chinese， Burmese， Thai， Lao， Cambodian and English. By integrating and sharing logistics information at the border of Myanmar and China， the barriers of cross-border transportation have been removed. As of June 28， 2018， the platform has serviced 25，777 vehicles and handled business valued at 172 million yuan （US$25.2 million）. Logistics costs have been reduced by 6 percent.

In October 2017， Chinese companies launched cross-border business-to-business online shopping platform eMyan， digital media platform Myannews， and online payment platform eMyan Pay in Myanmar. The transaction volume on eMyan has amounted to 43 million yuan （US$6.3 million）. Jiegao will be built into a town specializing in cross-border e-commerce. Internet giants like Alibaba and JD.com have reached partnerships with the town.

m.89bay.com is a cross-border e-commerce platform based in Dongxing. Traders from China and ASEAN countries can complete a transaction and settle directly online. “Our daily transaction volume surpasses 10 million yuan （US$1.5 million） on average，” reveals Qi Yousheng， general manager of the platform.

Partnerships with Alibaba and JD.com have been enriching the e-commerce sector in Dongxing in terms of their respective global and domestic purchasing capabilities. At present， Dongxing is home to 2，162 e-commerce businesses， three independently developed e-commerce platforms and one online settlement platform. Products sold on the platforms include over 400 categories such as fresh food， rosewood furniture， artwork， produce and packaged food.

“In the future， we will reach out to Vietnam partners and pair border trade businesses via the e-commerce platforms to further increase local incomes，” explains Chen Xiwen， secretary general of E-commerce Association of Dongxing.