Zhoushan signs major projects at China-CEEC Expo

Twenty projects – focusing on automobile production, intelligent manufacturing, energy development and industrial park construction – are signed at the Zhejiang Provincial Promotion Conference on the Belt and Road Initiative, which was held in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, on June 8. [Photo/zhoushan.cn]

The Zhejiang Provincial Promotion Conference on the Belt and Road Initiative – held in Ningbo, in Zhejiang province, on June 8 – was a major success for the province, according to the organizers.

A sideline event of the first China-CEEC Expo & International Consumer Goods Fair in Ningbo, the meeting gathered over 300 government officials and entrepreneurs from 60 countries and regions across the world to share their best practice on BRI construction.

The conference also witnessed the signing of 20 projects valued at over $14.3 billion, focusing on the areas of automobile production, intelligent manufacturing, energy development and industrial park construction.

Included was a $127 million project between the Zhoushan-based Zhejiang Ocean Family Co and Fiji Golden Ocean Fish Limited, which involves the joint construction of fishing facilities in the central Pacific island republic of Kiribati. 

Four other deals involving the Zhejiang city of Zhoushan were inked outside the venue, which will bring in around 400 million yuan ($57.7 million) of foreign investment to the city. 

Zhejiang Ocean Family Co is a key agricultural enterprise in China. It has established trade partnerships with many major seafood products companies in the world, forming a complete industrial chain integrating ocean-going fishing, seafood products processing, foreign trade and sales. 

The city of Zhoushan has developed close trade relations with countries involved in the BRI in recent years. 

According to the municipal bureau of commerce, the city conducted trade worth 41.59 billion yuan with 60 such countries last year, up 75.5 percent year on year and accounting for 36.6 percent of the city's total foreign trade.

Fourteen countries imported goods worth more than 100 million yuan from Zhoushan, and Southeast Asia formed the city's largest export market, importing goods worth around 4.15 billion yuan in 2018, or 9.8 percent of the city's total export that year.

In terms of products, mechanical and electrical products, refined oil and seafood products ranked among the top three exported commodities.

The city has also conducted commercial business with Indonesia, Singapore, East Timor, Malaysia and Djibouti – in projects ranging from pelagic fishing, to ship repairs, engineering equipment leasing and the agricultural product trade over the past five years. Those projects were worth a total of $36.49 million.