Guangdong to Upgrade Processing Trade Cities

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Apr. 20 – According to the Economic Development Outline of the Pearl River Delta (2008-2020), the government of Guangdong has announced its intention to accelerate the upgrading of processing trade cities.

Given the high volume of processing trade businesses in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan and Zhongshan, the government has decided to upgrade the six cities to important processing trade cities.

Among the six cities, the imports and exports volume in Dongguan hit US$93.5 billion in 2009 despite the global economic downturn, according to a report released by the government. The cities’ total foreign trade in 2009 shrank by 17.4 percent due to the financial crisis, but imports and exports are in steady recovery as their decrease in December 2009 has narrowed by 25 percent compared with January 2009. Shenzhen and other cities also saw trade surplus in 2009, a sign of improving global demand.

The municipal governments of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan and Zhongshan will draft objectives, tasks, measures and timelines for upgrading to important processing trade cities, and hand over applications to the Foreign Economic and Trade Office before May 10, 2010. The government also encourages processing trade enterprises to innovate and research, develop brand awareness, increase domestic demand and establish and improve the marketing system to enhance economic development.