China, Thailand to Build Economic, Trade Zone

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, April 09, 2002

China, Thailand to Build Economic, Trade Zone

China and Thailand will jointly launch an economic and trade zone in Chiang Rai of northern Thailand, according to a letter of intent signed between the two countries on April 9.

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China and Thailand will jointly build an economic and trade zone in Chiang Rai of northern Thailand, according to a letter of intent signed between relevant authorities of the two countries on April 9 in Kunming, capital city of Southwest China's Yunnan Province.

The project will cover a Chinese Commodities Town in Chiang Rai and a tariff-free industrial park in Chiang Saen, 70 kilometers from Chiang Rai, according to sources with the Kunming High-Tech Development Zone, the Chinese party to the agreement.

The Thai parties of the pact include the Board of Investment and the national petroleum corporation.

Chinese sources said the building of the economic and trade zone marks that the proposed Sino-ASEAN free trade zone has entered an experimental stage.

An ambitious plan to map out the world's largest free trade area encompassing China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Thailand has got a membership, is now under active negotiation, despite potential challenges still ahead.

In accordance with the said pact, the two sides plan to complete the construction of the Chinese Commodities Town in two years and the tariff-free industrial park in 10 years, with the total investment possibly hitting five billion yuan.

As a specific step, a Sino-Thai joint venture will soon be launched in the economic and trade zone, but details of the project are not clarified yet.

The work to propel the free trade area is obviously speeded up by the tremendous mutual interests, although ASEAN members have also some political considerations in their mind, for example to cushion, using China's political power, the tightening pressure of anti-terrorism campaign from the United States.

In 2001, trade volume between China and ASEAN countries totaled US$41.6 billion, rising 5 per cent over the previous year despite the worldwide economic recession.

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