(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-02-21 10:24

NANNING -- China has promoted its southwest Beibu Bay as a new economic zone, with the approval of the "Guangxi Beibu Bay Economic Zone Development Plan", announced Ma Biao, Chairman of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Thursday in Nanning, the region's capital city.

According to the plan, the Beibu Bay economic zone, with 12.4 million population, will cover 42,500 square kilometers of land and a coastline of  1,595 kilometers.

The economic zone will be built into regional logistic and trade center  between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).