The China City Complex is expected to house more than 70,000
Chinese traders in a sprawling 500,000 square-meter facility to be built on the
eastern outskirts of Bangkok, Vijit Yang, chairman of the ASEAN-China Economic
and Trade Promotion Association said Friday.
China signed a free trade agreement with Southeast Asian
countries in January 2010 that reduces or removes tariffs on traded goods.
Passing the goods through Thailand will allow Chinese traders to avoid the
tariffs imposed by the US and the European Union on many of their exports, said
Vijit.
The plan will also give the appearance of reducing China’s
trade deficit with those countries, which hit $16.8 billion with the US in November
and $13.6 billion with the EU.
The surplus has become an increasingly sensitive issue in
the EU and the US, which buy the vast bulk of China’s exports, prompting
traders to look for other ways of penetrating those markets.
Overall, China’s trade has remained robust despite the
global economic crisis. Exports in November jumped 34.9 percent from a year
earlier to $153.3 billion, boosted by a surge in sales to other developing
economies, which are recovering from the crisis faster than the US and Europe.
The China Daily said the commercial center will sell
Chinese-made garments, ornaments and household items, among other things.
Thailand’s Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot
traveled to China on Wednesday to woo investors, the China Daily said.
Construction is scheduled to begin in March and take 18
months to complete, said Vijit, who is overseeing the project, according to the
Thai Commerce Ministry.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is scheduled to chair
a ceremony in Bangkok to officially unveil the project on Jan. 18.
