Yiwu plans to be int'l trade zone

SmallYiwu, a city in Zhejiang province well-known for its small commodity trade, plans to become an international special trade zone.

It's claimed, for instance, that six out of 10 Christmas trees sold in the United States come from Yiwu.

But Chen Yixin, the Party secretary of the city of Jinhua, which administers Yiwu, said he wants to build its imports, as well as its already-strong exports.

"We are mulling a plan to build Yiwu into an international special trade zone.

"We'll submit the plan to the central government for approval," Chen told China Daily, on the sidelines of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

He said he believes now is the perfect time for the central government to widen its reforms in some specific areas, and Yiwu would offer the perfect location.

"We have some comprehensive economic zones such as Shenzhen in Guangdong, Pudong in Shanghai and Binhai in Tianjin, and we need reforms to go further afield," Chen added.

Despite China's export growth slowing this year due to the sluggish global economy and the euro zone debt crisis, Yiwu saw its exports jump 59.1 percent in the first nine months to $4.19 billion.

"We expect our export growth to exceed 80 percent year-on-year this year," Chen added.

Zhejiang Governor Xia Baolong said at a discussion session during the congress that the province is struggling to achieve an import and export growth rate of 10 percent this year.

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