China opening up border areas to boost trade

China Securities Journal reported on Monday that ministries including the Ministry of Commerce are drafting a 2011-2020 guide for border areas to develop new engines for foreign trade.

The guide will expand financing support to border trade and extend favorable policies in financing, fiscal taxation, land use and talent. The newspaper cited unnamed experts as saying that the opening-up of border areas will focus on developing experimental zones and improve the infrastructure in key border ports and towns. Key projects will include cross-border railways and highways.

China's exports to traditional markets such as the European Union and the United States shrank in 2012 amid the financial crisis while trade with emerging economies, including Russia and the ASEAN, kept surging. The government is in a trial of restructuring its foreign trade strategy through opening up inland areas, the newspaper said.