Guangxi will strive to become an important node by 2023 in the new development paradigm of dual circulation, in which domestic and overseas markets reinforce each other with the domestic market as a mainstay, said Yang Chunting, Party secretary of the Commerce Department of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on July 12.

A frontier area for opening-up and cooperation with ASEAN, Guangxi has set new records in foreign trade volume in the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) and has ranked at the top in China in terms of its border trade volume. A batch of international prestigious companies, such as Deutsche Post DHL Group, have been attracted to settle down in the region.

Aiming to further deepen economic and trade cooperation with ASEAN and turn its advantages in geographic location into opening-up development, Yang noted that the region will take an active role in carrying out matchmakings with major national strategies such as the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Continuous efforts will be made in constructing the China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone and the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor.

Yang added that constructing industrial belts at the border areas will be a key emphasis in Guangxi's work in the future.