5-26-20, China Shipbuilding Group Winterthur Gas & Diesel (WinGD).温特图尔发动机 launched the world’s largest marine dual-fuel low-speed engine WinGD X92DF, the engine has passed the Bureau Veritas classification approval, will be manufactured by Shanghai Sinoship Mitsui Diesel Engine Co.上海中船三井造船柴油机有限公司. Compared with the previous dual-fuel low-speed marine engines, the WinGD X92DF has advantages in terms of more power, intelligent control and environment-friendliness.
WinGD X92DF hits a milestone:
first, Chinese ships now have their own advanced and even world-leading domestic power system;
second, Chinese ship power research has the core technology, starts to develop a supply chain;
third, China has achieved a new breakthrough in independent high-end marine equipment R&D and manufacturing.
Iceland signs free-trade cooperation with China
Iceland is the first country to break the European trade norm and sign free-trade cooperation with China, a short time ago, 250,000 tons of seafood, including salmon and white fish, was flown directly into China. As the first Icelandic country to use air transport for trade, this method enhances the freshness of seafood and at the same time increase the volume of trade between the two sides. According to “Iceland Morning News”, Icelandic airplanes first cooperated with the German logistics group on the transportation of medical supplies from China during the coronovirus outbreak, Iceland saw the advantages of air transport for seafood. Iceland, as the only country in Europe that enjoys zero tariff for export to China, needs to export large quantities of Pacific and Atlantic salmon, white fish and other seafood to China. If it can improve the efficiency, the subsequent gains is substantial. It should be noted that while transportation costs have risen, Iceland has also raised the cost of seafood, which has increased significantly by 0.7% in the first quarter of this year compared to last year. However, even so, the Chinese market is still a “seller’s market”, and has given Iceland a taste of the success.
In fact, Iceland’s cooperation with China is not only limited to seafood, but also includes cooperation in other areas to a greater or lesser extent. For example, Iceland’s mobile phone company Nova’s public announcement earlier this month that it agreed to work with Huawei’s 5G project and that Huawei 5G would be available in its area of involvement shortly thereafter. Not only will Iceland’s communications network be speeded up, but it will also lead to further development in the field of scientific research. Secondly, Iceland is also working with the Chinese tourism industry. According to Icelandic authorities, Iceland’s tourism industry has received 23,372 Chinese tourists in the first quarter of this year, up 6.2% year-on-year, against a backdrop of an international epidemic that is still having more or less of an impact. The data based on February and March after the coronaviru outbreak, is down 18.02%, 43.4% year-on-year. In other words, although the tourism revenue in February and March was not satisfactory enough to meet Iceland’s expectations of 130,000 Chinese tourists in 2020, Chinese tourists have started to look at Iceland as a destination, it is expected that Iceland’s tourism industry will be booming after the epidemic is completely under control.
When it comes to Europe’s trade with China, pork trade is an good example. The German “Economic News” reported that most of the EU countries are in a state of production self-sufficiency, not able to export much excess, but EU pork exports have become one of its major foreign trade, it is not an exaggeration to say that China’s import of pork helps EU out of the epidemic. During the first quarter, with total pork exports up 4.2% compared to 2019. 75.6 tonnes of pork, which accounts for 54% of EU pork exports, went to China, up 76% from last year. Moreover, even though the epidemic and transport costs combined has led to a one-third increase in pork prices, it has not been able to meet import demand, prompting EU to hit a record €3.5 billion in pork export revenues in the first quarter of the year. However, compared to China’s large increase in imports, countries such as the UK, South Korea, Japan and other countries have seen a more or less significant decrease in their imports. Among them, the UK fell 37.4 percent year-on-year to just 170,000 tons; South Korea fell 39.4 percent year-on-year to just 50,000 tons; and Japan fell 14.8 percent year-on-year to just 101,000 tons. This shows the significance in China’s market.
Largest-yet special economic zone in South China’s Hainan
China on Monday unveiled a mega project to build its largest-yet special economic zone in South China’s Hainan Province into a world-class free trade port, with one of its major focuses on escalating the development of its financial market. Given that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has served as China’s largest free trade port but is now being threatened by the US with revocation of its special privileges, there are rising concerns that Hong Kong’s future status and role are under a cloud, and the city may even be replaced by Hainan.
Though similar concerns were raised in 2018, Hainan will be cultivated into a new financial center to develop alongside Hong Kong in a coordinated manner, rather than replacing Hong Kong as an international financial hub.
Without aiming to replace any aspect of Hong Kong or any other economic entities, building Hainan into a free trade port with Chinese characteristics will be similar to China’s former campaign to cultivate the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone – it is a step to deepen China’s reform and opening-up.
Hainan will become a free trade port closely related to Hong Kong, yet will maintain some distance. With favorable housing conditions and natural environment, and sufficient talent resources, Hainan is capable of attracting financial institutions to extend long-term investment businesses from Hong Kong, and thereafter explore business in the Chinese mainland.
Take the UK’s two financial centers, London and Edinburgh, as examples. The coordinated development patterns of Hong Kong and Hainan as different kinds of financial centers could also divert financial industries into different cities of the country, and that will largely reduce risks.
Hong Kong’s major advantages are free capital convertibility, entry and exit, as well as a sound shorting and hedging mechanism, which is more suitable for short-term capital hoping for high returns. By contrast, Hainan, with an increasingly open financial market, will be a better choice for foreign investors who intend to further expand in the Chinese mainland market in the long run.
Foreign capital could also seek different kinds of investments in the two regions, like buying fixed income products in Hong Kong and launching high-tech venture investments in Hainan.
It would be a triple-win strategy for Hainan, Hong Kong and foreign capital, combining the advantages of the two financial markets and allowing investors to form better portfolios to make both short-term and long-term profits.
China is cultivating new economic growth points while actively adapting to the changing international trade order. Currently, the European and American economies are experiencing downturns, which have reduced their say in the global economy. And the US is trying to change the order and rebuild international trade rules in its own favor so as to maintain its global economic dominance. Before new international trade rules are established, China’s proactive move to build Hainan as a world-class free trade port could pave the way for it to hold a stronger position in the future.
While constructing a high-quality, high-standard Hainan free trade port, the future development of the island province’s foreign trade is facing rosy opportunities. It sits geographically in the middle of the Chinese mainland, Japan and South Korea, as well as Southeast Asian nations like Vietnam and Thailand.
In the first quarter, Hainan’s goods exports hit 8.25 billion yuan ($1.16 billion), up 5.4 percent year-on-year. Its exports to ASEAN and countries along the Belt and Road Initiative have grown faster than the overall national level.
Hainan’s current foreign trade is facing the same coronavirus blow as all countries around the world. But as ASEAN markets and the Chinese mainland have effectively brought the virus under control, their demand has surged amid economic recovery, especially for health, electronic and internet products, leading to a rebound in Hainan’s exports to these markets.
Hainan should make the best of its geographic advantage and develop its foreign trade in the “Hainan+N” model. For the services industry, it could focus on “Hainan+Japan, South Korea” cooperation. For the manufacturing industry, it should consider “Hainan+ASEAN.”
The island province is currently facing great opportunities to develop into a globally influential, high-level free trade port. It’s expected that in the future, the ships and airplanes that leave Hainan will not only be loaded with cargo, but will also be full of ideas and wisdom, and, more importantly, full of Hainanese experience and characteristics.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1190347.shtml