Zhanjiang on list of key pivot cities in Belt and Road Initiative

Zhanjiang Port.

Zhanjiang has been listed as one of the 15 key pivot cities in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, according to an official document jointly issued by three central ministries recently.

The National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Commerce, with State Council authorization, issued the action plan on the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative on Saturday.

The action plan, outlining the roadmap for the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, highlighted the port construction of 15 coastal cities including Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Tianjin.

Zhanjiang, as China’s portal city in the South China Sea, enjoys geographical superiority to the Southeast Asian countries. As specified in the action plan, the countries joining the Belt and Road Initiative should strengthen cooperation in policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people bonds, which means that great opportunities for economic and cultural opening-up beckon for Zhanjiang.

According to Zhanjiang Development and Reform Bureau, many of the city’s cooperative industrial parks and agricultural projects with the ASEAN countries, has been included into Guangdong province’s 21st Century Maritime Silk Road construction plan.

Zhanjiang will also strengthen economic exchanges and cooperation with countries along the new Silk Road, by constructing Zhanjiang Port into an international hub port.

“The action plan is a great opportunity for Zhanjiang,” Yan Yuke, a professor from Guangdong Ocean University, said. He suggested the city should be more proactive and give full play to its own advantages to integrate into the action plan, so as to draw more investment and boost the city’s development.

“As the port of origin on the ancient Maritime Silk Road, Zhanjiang is bound to write a new chapter of its glorious history in the new era,” Professor Gong Jianhua from Guangdong Ocean University said.

Professor Zhang Kaicheng from Guangdong Ocean University echoed Gong’s views. He suggested the city expand the marine economy and accelerate the pace of building a modern industrial system.