Source: CCTV.com

11-03-2008 11:25

Big crises can mean big changes. The last few weeks have seen desperate measures by governments all over the world to salvage a crippled financial system. And out of this, those who have the stomach for it are looking for drivers in a new economic landscape. In China, many are looking to so-called "bonded port areas" , as a tool to keep up decades of rapid growth.

The Dongjiang Bonded Port Areas

Mr. Lee is a senior manager in YCH Group, a Singapore-based logistics company. He's in charge of the firm's Chinese branch in the northern port city of Tianjin. His company has also been affected by the global meltdown, as demand shrinks. But the supply chain group still has confidence in further growth, and it's keeping its eye firmly on the Chinese market.

Located in the Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone, Mr. Lee's branch cites Dell and Motorola as some of its key manufacturing customers. The special location offers the company many preferential policies, which Mr. Lee says have really helped a lot.

Lee Cheok Pin, Deputy GM of YCH Group said "Besides the tax incentive, we work very closely with the free trade zone customs. They've granted us an incentive, what we call RFDL, Release First, Declare Later. With these incentive, we can operates 7 days, 24 hours each. And for any material that going out for Motorola, we can sent them out first and follow out with the documentation decorations. And that really helps us in improving our efficiency and effectiveness."

With all the benefits gained from working in the free trade zone, YCH Group is looking to expand into China's largest free-trade harbor area -- the Tianjin Dongjiang Bonded Port Area -- for more favorable policies.

Located in the Binhai New Area in the city, the bonded harbor area offers the most preferential policies in taxation and foreign exchange policies in the country.

The first phase of the area, covering four square kilometers, has started operations. It included warehouses, container terminals, processing and logistic zones. And it involves 6.6 billion yuan in corporate investment. That's nearly 900 million US dollars. By the end of July, nearly 30 companies were registered in the area.

Yang Zhongqiang, Vice Director of Administrative Com. of Dongjiang Bonded Port Area said "Via the bonded area platform, enterprises will be able to build and improve their overall industrial chain, supply chain and service chain. This will help them better participate in the globalization process."

The Dongjiang Bonded Port Area is scheduled to become fully operational by 2010, when the second phase is completed. The whole project will then be able to handle 4 million containers per year.