Hainan plans trade and tourism hub for ASEAN  

海南东方市建设边贸城 将与东盟国家开展互市贸易

东方市八所港务公司与越南下龙市盖邻港投资公司建立了合作意向，将在对越互市交易、转口贸易、仓储与物流加工以及商贸旅游等方面进行合作，将边贸城打造成海南首个东盟商贸旅游度假区。

Dongfang (CNS) – Local government in Hainan province's Dongfang city has injected 300 million yuan ($48.5 million) into a program to build a border trade zone in the city, according to a local official on Sunday.

The construction project started in October and is expected to be completed by June, according to Fu Xianfeng, a Dongfang city official.

Eight port operators in Dongfang city have signed a cooperation intention with a business from Vietnam. According to the contract, the two sides will cooperate in several fields including tourism, storage, and logistics processing. The project has been designed to build the border trade zone into Hainan province's first trade and tourism holiday resort.

The trade zone will serve as a hub for Dongfang city, Vietnam and other member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for cooperation in logistics, trade and finance.

Trade between Dongfang city and Vietnam has been active in recent years, reaching $133 million in 2012, Fu added.