China to build trade centre in Thailand

BANGKOK: China plans to build a massive $1.5 billion commercial complex in Thailand that will enable traders to send "Made In China" goods around the world without paying pricey tariffs often imposed in the West, Thai officials and Chinese state media said.

The China City Complex is expected to house more than 70,000 Chinese traders in a sprawling 5.4 million square-foot (5 lakh sq-meter) facility to be built on the eastern outskirts of Bangkok, Vijit Yang, chairman of the ASEAN-China Economic and Trade Pro-motion Association said on 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% 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 US & Europe.