Fujian gears up to boost trade links with South-east Asia

Call it the frozen seafood express delivery.

Previously, seafood imports from South-east Asia, such as ribbon fish, squid and pomfret, would be stuck for days at Mawei Port in Fuzhou before being cleared by Customs and sent to different corners of China.

Now, one day may be all it takes for the seafood to go from port to dining table, with the setting up of a 24-hour inspection station inside a wholesale market near the port in 2013 speeding up Customs clearance by leaps and bounds.

"It has certainly helped cut costs and made it more convenient for businesses to import seafood," said Mr Andy Lin, managing director of Ming Cheng Group, which operates an integrated centre for the import, trading, storage and distribution of seafood.

"We've seen a 10 per cent increase year on year in demand for seafood imports from South-east Asia in recent years. There is room for the volume to double."

Asean seafood imports make up about 40 per cent of the 30 billion yuan (S$6.1 billion) worth of trade a year involving more than 1,000 businesses at its integrated centre in Fuzhou.

Local enterprises in Fujian hope to see more improved government services and policies such as the express Customs clearance, as the province gears up to boost trade with South-east Asia.

Fujian, which has a population of nearly 39 million people, is expected to take the lead in boosting trade links after being named "the core area" of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. The southern coastal province, which is the ancestral home of 12.5 million overseas Chinese in Asean, has been assigned by Beijing to focus on Asean countries.

Unveiled by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to Indonesia in 2013, the revival of the 1,000-year-old sea route is touted as a grand project to connect China with its South-east Asian neighbours and westwards to South Asia and beyond.

Together with another overland route that links western China with Central Asia and Europe along an economic belt, the two routes are collectively known as the One Belt, One Road.

Ministry of Agriculture statistics show that Asean nations are top buyers of seafood products from China. In 2015, Asean was also China's third largest export market behind Japan and the United States. Imports from the region to China come in fourth behind Russia, the US and Peru.

"Asean has overtaken the US as our biggest trading partner in the past year," Mr Li Lin, deputy director-general of the Foreign Affairs Office of Fujian Provincial Government, told a group of Asean reporters on a recent visit organised by China's Foreign Ministry.

Last year, Fujian's economy grew 8.4 per cent to reach 2.85 trillion yuan, ranking 10th out of 31 provinces. Foreign trade contributed to more than one third of its gross domestic product, at 1.04 trillion yuan.

When it comes to Asean, Mr Li said Fujian's priority is to improve transport links, expand two-way trade and investments, develop maritime cooperation and deepen people-to-people exchanges.Fujian has also stepped up its sister province programme with Asean, said Mr Li. Last year, it established sister province relationships with East Java in Indonesia and Sarawak in Malaysia.

Asked if any projects have been sealed between Fujian and Asean countries, Mr Li said the first step is simply to encourage more visits between the two sides. "With the increase in people-to-people connections, including more tourist arrivals, friendship and confidence will be built. And with better understanding, concrete economic cooperation will follow," he added.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 12, 2017, with the headline Fujian gears up to boost trade links with South-east Asia. Subscribe