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1994-05-02
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<text>
<title>
Yunnan Develops Foreign Trade
</title>
<article>
<hdr>
Joint Publications Research Service, August 24, 1992
China: Yunnan Develops Foreign Trade
</hdr>
<body>
<p>By Fu Zhengluo: "Yunnan Border Trade Flourishes--Reform and
Open Policy Shows Enormous Vitality", [Beijing Guoji Jingmao
Xiaoxi in Chinese, 21 June 92 p 1.]
</p>
<p> Yunnan Province is located in China's southwestern border
region. Bordering on Burma, Laos and Vietnam, it is connected
with various countries in Indochina Peninsula by sea and land.
It has a 4,000-km long border line with 27 counties and cities
bordering on neighboring countries and with people of 15
nationalities living across the border line. Border trade has
been going on, and trade fairs in particular have been attended
by border inhabitants from all sides over a protracted period.
With the implementation of China's reform and open policy since
1984, border trade with Burma in the western apart of Yunnan has
entered a new stage of development. The improvement in
Sino-Vietnamese and Sino-Laotian relations has helped promote
trading between the southwestern part of Yunnan and Laos and
between the southern part of the province and Vietnam.
</p>
<p>(1) Gratifying Situation in Developing Yunnan's Border Trade in
Recent Years
</p>
<p> The form of border trade in Yunnan is multi-level. The first
form is one of trade fairs attended by inhabitants on both sides
of the border. Border inhabitants with proper identification
cards may cross the border to attend the trade fair on the other
side by paying a border-crossing fee of 30 to 50 fen at the
border checkpoint. At present, some of the trade fairs are
relatively large in size. According to statistics, the number of
border inhabitants who attended the trade fairs in the Hekou
City amounted to 50,000 during the first quarter of 1992. The
second form is small transactions. It is a form of
nongovernmental trade between business establishments on both
sides. The great majority of the transactions are in the form of
barter with the value of goods calculated on the basis of
renminbi. This is the major form of the border trade in Yunnan.
The third form is local governments that designate certain
companies to carry out trade.
</p>
<p> To promote border trade, the state and Yunnan Province have
adopted a series of border trade policies such as adherence to
the "five self principle" (the principle of relying on oneself
to look for supplies, do the marketing, carry on negotiations,
shoulder the responsibility for one's own profits or losses, and
achieve a balanced trade development) and the adoption of a
policy to give preferential treatment to 162 types of
commodities by reducing their customs tariff. To promote border
trade, the province has also adopted the measure of integrating
border trade with general trade (foreign trade), combine
commodity trade with economic, technological and labor
cooperation, and linking export-oriented border trade with
lateral economic ties at home.
</p>
<p> Right now, trade between the western part of the province
and Burma is the largest border trade in Yunnan. The total
volume of export and import trade in Dehong Dai-Jingpo
Autonomous Prefecture which includes the ports of Ruili and
Wanding reached 1.3 billion yuan during 1991, accounting for 80
percent of Yunnan's total value of import and export goods (1.64
billion yuan of which export goods amounted to 950 million yuan
and imported goods totalled 690 million yuan).
</p>
<p> Yunnan's primary export commodities to Burma are textiles,
accounting for 70 percent of the total export value. Next on the
list were articles of daily use (such as batteries, matches,
detergents and rubber shoes) as well as food, beverages,
household electric appliances, rolled steel, cement and so on.
The primary import commodities to Yunnan are jewelry and
jadestone which account for 30 percent of the total imported
merchandise. Next on the list are lumber, rattan, marine
products, bean, sesame, peanuts and so on.
</p>
<p> With the development of border trade, Yunnan has also begun
to strengthen its economic and technical cooperation with Burma
and Laos. Negotiations have been actively carried on for
projects such as sending workers abroad to help fell trees, grow
cotton, excavate mines, and run cement factories and workshops
for the repair and assembly of motor vehicles and tractors.
</p>
<p>(2) Border Trade Spurs Overall Economic Development of Port
Cities
</p>
<p> The two cities of Ruili and Wanding which border
Burma are designated by the state as ones open to foreign
countries. Due to their favorable geographical locations and
convenient transport facilities, the border trade in the
vicinity of these two cities is developing rapidly. All this has
spurred the overall economic development of the two cities.
</p>
<p> Ruili is close to Burma's Muse Township. The peoples in the
two countries have maintained close ties and continuously
developed their relations of friendship and good-neighborliness
since ancient times. After the Burmese Law and Order Restoration
Council took over Burma's political power on 18 September 1988,
it has paid even greater attention to promoting border trade and
stepped its efforts in building the Muse Township. Now, there
is an attractive China-Burma street with well laid-out stores.
</p>
<p> Since the Third Plenary Session of the 11th National CCP
Committee, the border trade in Wandin City has flourished. The
total volume of imports and exports in 1978 was only 1.8 million
yuan. It increased to 30.89 million yuan in 1985, and reached
277 million yuan in 1991. The number of commercial
establishments engaged in border trade has already increased
from 16 in 1985 to 53 in 1991, which included six companies from
other provinces.
</p>
<p> Due to the vigorous development of border trade, tax revenues
from various sources are also increasing. The continuous
increase of revenues in Wandin City has provided abundant
financial resources for the promotion of the overall economic
development.
</p>
<p> In short, the development of border trade has spurred the
overall economic development in Ruili and Wanding. It has played
an important role in benefiting the nation, helping people
become well-to-do, enhancing friendship with neighboring
countries and maintaining peace and security in the nation.
</p>
<p>(3) Great Potential in Developing Border Trade
</p>
<p> Although the economic foundation of Yunnan's three
neighboring countries is still weak and their purchasing power
is somewhat limited, these countries have rich soil, good
climate, abundant resources in agriculture and forestry as well
as plentiful mineral, marine and tropical resources. Via these
three countries, Yunnan may enter the vast market in various
other countries in the Asian-Pacific Region. Many of the
products in Yunnan cater to the needs of the consumers in
neighboring countries. In addition, industrial products in
Yunnan are rated high quality by neighboring countries.
Economically, China and its neighboring countries compliment
each other. At present, both China and its neighboring nations
are implementing the policy of opening to the outside world. All
sides have the desire to strengthen their cooperation in
economic affairs and trade. Although various nations are still
not so abundant in foreign exchange, they may still expand their
trade and economic and technical cooperation in various flexible
ways such as barter and compensation trade. As for future
prospects, there is great potential in developing the border
trade between Yunnan and its three neighboring countries.
</p>
<p> Naturally there still exist some problems in doing border
trade in Yunnan. For example, Yunnan has had a trade surplus
with Burma for years while the Burmese currency has devaluated
on a large scale in recent years. All these factors have
affected the economic benefits of the commercial establishments.
In some commercial sectors, there are signs of lowering prices
in