The China-Saudi Arabia Jazan Industrial Zone promotion event was held in Guangzhou's Huangpu District (formally known as Guangzhou Development District) on September 25.
Government officials and business representatives from China and Saudi Arabia attended the event and discussed investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia, especially for the industrial capability cooperation and construction of the Jazan Industrial Zone.
"China is one of the most important partners to Saudi Arabia at every level. We have seen growing interest from Chinese companies to invest in our country," said Nawaf Hassan Al-shari Alwadie, General Manager of the Investment Development Division of Royal Commission at Jazan.
He elaborated that the Royal Commission at Jazan is devoted to providing services in the Jazan Industrial Zone to facilitate Chinese enterprises' investment and assist in coordinating with Saudi Arabian government agencies.
He visited industrial parks and leading enterprises in Huangpu District and explored cooperation opportunities two days before the event.
Chen Zhiyong, Vice Secretary of the CPC Committee of Huangpu District, said that the District has a good foundation of China-Saudi Arabia cooperation. He introduced that Huangpu has five industrial clusters with an output value of over 100 billion RMB, including new-generation information technology, automobile manufacturing, green energy, health, and new materials industries, and three industrial clusters with an output value of over 50 billion RMB, including high-end equipment, biotechnology, integrated circuits industries.
Jazan Industrial Zone is located within the Jazan City for Primary and Downstream Industries (JCPDI), with a planned area of 32 square kilometers, including a 30-square-kilometer industrial zone and a 2-square-kilometer residential area.
The construction of the Jazan Industrial Zone is jointly driven by Guangzhou City (Guangzhou Development District) in Guangdong Province and Yinchuan City (Yinchuan Economic and Technological Development Zone) in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.
Guangzhou Development District, Yinchuan Economic and Technological Development Zone, Saudi Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, and Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) jointly established the Saudi Silk Road Industrial Service Co., Ltd to promote the investment in Jazan Industrial Zone.
Li Zhe, General Manager of Saudi Silk Road Industrial Service Co., Ltd, introduced that Jazan Industrial Zone has completed construction of infrastructure and support facilities, including the Jazan Commercial Port, seawater desalination plant, and petrochemicals plant.
"We will construct a series of industrial parks in the Zone in the fields of metal smelting and processing, green energy, petrochemical industry, marine wind energy equipment, and smart home appliances, taking advantage of the eight pillar industries of Guangzhou Development District," said Li.
Victor Johan Jansson, Project Manager of the Investment Department of the Royal Commission at Jazan, said that Jizan is rich in oil, gas, and metal mineral resources, and has obvious advantages in production cost. Supportive policies in loans, taxes, and employment have also been published for foreign investors.
Hu Zhijun, Head of the China-Saudi Arabia Industrial Capacity Cooperation Promotion Office in Guangzhou Development District, said the domestic enterprises are currently highly enthusiastic about going out, and they hope to explore the Middle East market.
"We will promote some major projects and establish industrial clusters of upstream and downstream enterprises in the Jazan Industrial Zone," Hu added.
According to the Huangpu Government, Huangpu District attracted 76 new foreign investment projects in 2022, covering bio-medicine, supply chain logistics, and electronic equipment from 16 countries and regions. The District's actual use of foreign capital hit 19.38 billion RMB in 2022.
