Focus

Sea salt farmers join toymakers in turning thoughts to the future

By Qiu Quanlin (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-26 16:07

Dafen in Shenzhen is believed to the largest mass producer of oil paintings in the world./Provided to China Daily

Villagers look forward to fresh opportunities after expansion talk. Qiu Quanlin reports.

Chen Guican has made a living from the salt pools of Nan'ao island for more than three decades - but dreams of the day he no longer has to.

Although the price of salt has risen to about 300 yuan ($45) a ton, most of his neighbors in this run-down county of Shantou, Guangdong province, have already abandoned the business and headed to the big cities.

"Most have moved for better working and living conditions, because the economy here is not well developed," said the 52-year-old, who harvests the salt from seawater by evaporation in shallow pits or basins. "Working conditions here have not been changed a lot (in 30 years).

"Most people don't want to make a living by simply producing salt or fishing," he added. "If there are more business opportunities, we could do something else."

Nan'ao, which is about 256 kilometers (from Kaohsiung in Taiwan province), was not included when Shantou was established as a special economic zone (SEZ) in 1981, nor when it was enlarged to 234 square kilometers in 1991.

"We hope the SEZ will one day be expanded to our county so we can benefit from more preferential policies, either in farming or in other businesses," said Chen. The farmer's wish may soon be realized as officials and researchers have proposed enlarging the SEZ once again, this time to include Nan'ao.

"As the closest island in Guangdong to Taiwan, Nan'ao should be developed as one of the leading counties in terms of economic and trade cooperation with Taiwan," said Li Feng, Shantou's newly appointed Party secretary.

Sources with the county authority said Nan'ao will merge with the SEZ once an application by Guangdong officials to make the island a cross-Straits experimental cooperative zone is approved by the central government. In preparation of the move, a number of large infrastructure projects has already been launched, including construction of an 11-kilometer over-sea bridge, the largest of its kind in the province.

Nan'ao Bridge, which was started in January with an investment of 570 million yuan, will help facilitate economic and trade relations between the island and Shantou's urban areas, said county officials.

New ideas, new markets

Since becoming an SEZ, one of five nationwide, Shantou has been seen as among the most important in attracting investment from Taiwan and overseas Chinese businesses.

However, after almost 30 years of development, the city still faces major challenges in improving its foreign investment environment and industrial structure.

In three decades, Shantou has brought in roughly $7.8 billion in overseas investment, which is less than cities like Suzhou in Jiangsu province attract in a year, according to Shi Xiaomei, a professor at Shantou Party School.

Authorities have approved about 5,800 foreign-invested companies since 1981 but only about 1,000 are still operating. More than three million Shantou natives living abroad also contribute 5 billion yuan to its economy, said Shi. "Most of these funds were used for infrastructure development, they are not investment," the professor added.

Shantou's GDP was 103.6 billion yuan in 2009, a year-on-year increase of 10.7 percent, which puts it 11th in Guangdong's official GDP rankings, Xinhua News Agency reported.

"There are many challenges ahead in economic and trade development," said Shi, who urged officials to attach more importance to upgrading the city's traditional toy and gift industry, which is now a pillar industry.

"After 30 years, there are still many small toy manufacturers in Shantou that rely heavily on labor-intensive and outdated technologies," said Guo Zhuocai, president of the Chenghai Toys Association.

Chenghai district, where Shantou's toy factories are concentrated, has about 3,000 manufacturers and is one of the country's leading toy production centers. Yet, many were forced to shut down two years ago, during the global financial crisis, due to their limited research and development strength, said Guo.

"Only those with strong innovation survived, so toy manufacturers should spare no effort in boosting research and development, which is key to upgrading the industry," he said. "We are also thirsty for competent managers, technicians and skilled workers."

Guo, who also runs Guangdong Huawei Toys and Crafts, set up his research team five years ago. After focusing on producing smart animation toys, the company also developed a cartoon series. "Innovation helps us form a new growth engine in the toy industry," he said.

Xinghui Auto Models, which produces mostly toy cars in cooperation with about 22 international automakers, has also benefited from boosting its research wing.

The company, which was this year listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and has enjoyed a steady sales growth of about 30 percent since 2008, has a team of 160 technicians, said general manager Chen Yueping. "If you don't upgrade technology and develop research, profits might be only 10 percent," he said. "But you are expected to gain as much as 30 percent after upgrading."

In addition to boosting innovation, Guo also suggested manufacturers tap new markets. With this in mind, the Chenghai government teamed up with the toy association to establish an exhibition center in Dubai.

"Shantou's toymakers are encouraged to ship their products not only to traditional markets in Europe and the United States but also to the Middle East and Southeast Asia," said Guo.

Customs statistics show that toy exports from China to the Middle East increased 8 percent year-on-year in 2009, which helped to generate a combined total of roughly 20 billion yuan for the industry that year.

"As a center of finance, trading and logistics in the Middle East, Dubai provides unrivaled business opportunities for Chinese toy enterprises," added Guo. "Overseas traders will find the most competitive toys at the exhibition center."