CIMC Vehicles Be an Iconic Enterprise for Shenzhen Businesses to “Go Global”
It is reported by Southern Daily on July 5 that CIMC Vehicles is increasingly enhancing its innovation strength and competitiveness among businesses that participate in the “Belt and Road” Initiative and has become a company ranked top among segmented industries globally after leading companies such as Huawei and China Merchants, attracting great attention. This means that CIMC Vehicles has achieved significant productivity and influence over the course of its transformation and upgrading and the marketing of its brand has seen initial effects. Here is an extract from this report for the readers.
Planning for the “Belt and Road” Initiative: an important strategy of city transformation and upgrading
Opening-up Requires “Going Global”
Walking on the streets of developed countries such as the US, UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Japan, and Australia, you will see a semi-trailer with the logo CIMC roaring past if you are careful enough. CIMC is the English abbreviation of China International Marine Containers (Group) Co., Ltd., a company headquartered in Shekou City with an average annual output of approximately RMB 60 billion. It has been ranked Top 1 across the world for 20 consecutive years in terms of the production and sales of containers.
“During the first half of last year, North America, Europe, China, and other emerging markets have become the centers for CIMC Vehicles to growing its revenues and profits, with a dynamic balance realized across the world,” said Li Guiping, CEO and President of CIMC Vehicles (Group). Currently, the company has a total of 25 production bases around the globe with 3,000 overseas employees.
Another Chinese company that has successfully rolled out its global planning is Chinese Merchants Group. At the end of this May, the State Council Information Office of China (SCIO) proposed in its Solution for Further Deepening the Reform and Opening-up of Chinese (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone that the projects implemented together with countries and regions along the “Belt and Road” shall be actively connected to improve the cooperation model with “ports at the forefront, industrial parks in the middle, and supporting cities at the back.”
This model is the primary strategy for development applied by China Merchants (Shekou). It means that the ports shall take initiative in the cooperation with “Belt and Road” countries and regions, the industrial parks shall follow closely, and the supporting cities shall be at the rear to provide supports so that an interconnected development will be realized with the integration of the government, businesses, and various resources. It is considered an important strategy for the transformation and upgrading of cities.
Last month, Shenzhen published the Opinions on Promoting Accelerated Growth of the Port of Shenzhen and proposed that an international port chain shall be built in Shenzhen to turn the port of Shenzhen into an important supporting area for the development of free trade ports and the “Belt and Road” Initiative.
Located in the south of the Pearl River Delta, the Port of Shenzhen enjoys world-class container hubs in eight harbor areas including Shekou, Chiwan, Mawan, Dongjiaotou, Yantian, Fuyong Airport, Shayuyong, and Neihe. Shenzhen will spend three years in further improving its ports and shipping infrastructure and container collection and distribution system, and enable an eco-friendly and smart port, with the time for customs clearance shortened by one-third.
“In 2017, the trade volume between Shenzhen and the ‘Belt and Road’ countries and regions reached USD 88.5 billion, increasing by 19.3% year on year,” said Wu Sikang, Director of the Policy Research Center of Shenzhen government. Shenzhen demonstrates the following three characteristics when engaging in the “Belt and Road” Initiative.
First, leading businesses such as Huawei and China Merchants act as the pioneers. Second, innovative companies are the main force that covers more than 70% of the participating companies. Third, it must be market-oriented with companies in Shenzhen developing products based on the actual needs of local consumer market.
“Take Tecno Telecom as an example. In 2017, it sold more than 40 million smartphones in Africa. In the first quarter of this year, with a total of 38% market share of its brands, namely Tecno, iTel and Infinix, the company has replaced Samsung as the largest winner in the African smartphone market,” said Wu.
On May 27, Ai Xuefeng, Deputy Mayor of Shenzhen, said on the “Belt and Road” business dialogue that Shenzhen would focus on the creation of an “upgraded” open economy and build an innovative and leading city of the world with outstanding competitiveness and influence. In the future, the city will further play its role as an important window for China’s opening-up and focus on the cooperation with overseas partners in areas such as innovation, industry, financial services, trade, infrastructure, and people-to-people bond.
Original heading: Shenzhen Plays Its Role as an Important Window to Explore New Paths for Expanding Opening-Up