Fangcheng Port Terminal: a key regional asset in building trade links with ASEAN block countries.

The Pan-Pearl River Delta (PPRD) region includes the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Guangdong, Yunnan, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou and Sichuan provinces, as well as the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

The region's close geographical proximity to a number of member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has seen the two establish increasingly close and significant links. Established in 1967, ASEAN now has 10 member countries - Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Since the PPRD region established its own regular cooperation mechanism back in 2004, the PPRD Regional Cooperation and Development Forum and Trade Fair has become a major driving force in China's trade with the ASEAN-aligned nations.

Five years ago, the trade volume between China and the ASEAN block was only $105.9 billion. In 2008, the volume had risen to $231.1 billion, an increase of 145 percent.

In spite of the global financial crisis, mutual investment activity between China and ASEAN continued to increase throughout 2008. According to official statistics, China-ASEAN mutual investment levels had reached almost $60 billion by the end of 2008.

Currently, the PPRD region and ASEAN forms a complementary economic link.

The major products exported by the PPRD region to the ASEAN block include machinery, IT products and textiles. At the same time, the region mainly imports raw materials from ASEAN, notably rubber, paper, oil, mineral ore and fruits.

With a 1,000-km long land border with Vietnam, Guangxi holds a strategic location with regard to China's on-going economic cooperation with the ASEAN countries and has long been regarded as the country's key gateway to its southeastern neighbors.

As an active member of the PPRD regional cooperation body, Guangxi has been swift to exploit the advantages of its geographical setting and has now emerged as one of the key players in China's trade negotiations with ASEAN.

In 2004, the China-ASEAN Expo was permanently re-located to Nanning, the capital of Guangxi. This underlined Guangxi's role in promoting enhanced economic cooperation between the two parties.

With the backing of funding and advanced technologies from Guangdong, Fujian, Hong Kong and Macao, Guangxi has developed distinct competitive advantages over its ASEAN neighbors in the fields of technology and management.

At the same time, the raw materials and ready market access Guangxi has secured from the ASEAN countries have provided optimum conditions for the region to negotiate favorable terms for industrial upgrades from China's eastern provinces.

Recent years have seen a steady trade increase between Guangxi and ASEAN. In 2006, the trade volume between the two sides reached $1.82 billion, 4.3 times as much as the levels recorded in 2001.

Editor: Olivia