China brings zones to the Marianas

Saipan in the Marianas has problems of its own and is working on the idea of special economic zones. In doing that it is getting China to help. In a newspaper article on the subject comes a summary of the situation and a quick history of China’s zones:

Between 1980 and 1984, China established special economic zones (SEZs) in Shantou, Shenzhen, and Zhuhai in Guangdong Province and Xiamen in Fujian Province and designated the province of Hainan a special economic zone. Early Chinese business concerns in the CNMI are traceable to these zones.

In 1984, China opened 14 coastal cities to overseas investment in Dalian, Qinhuangdao, Tianjin, Yantai, Qingdao, Lianyungang, Nantong, Shanghai, Ningbo, Wenzhou, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Zhanjiang, and Beihai.

In 1985, it established more economic zones in the Liaodong Peninsula, Hebei Province (which surrounds Beijing and Tianjin), Shandong Peninsula, Yangtze River Delta, Xiamen-Zhangzhou-Quanzhou Triangle in southern Fujian Province, Pearl River Delta, and Guangxi.

In 1990 the State Council opened the Pudong New Zone in Shanghai to overseas investment.

Economic characteristics of these decisions are represented as ‘4 principles’:

* Primary reliance on foreign capital on construction
* Formation of local-foreign joint ventures and partnerships first but allowing wholly foreign-owned enterprises
* Export-oriented products
* Resource utilization, production and distribution activities are driven by market forces

It goes on from there to explain how China has now opened what is effectively a zone in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Source: Saipan Tribune