The Largest Comprehensive Border Trade Wholesaling Market in Central Asia Opens to Public

Horgas Goudgans International Trade Mart Reception Center opens for business

HORGAS, Xinjiang, China, Aug. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- The China-Kazakhstan Horgas International Border Cooperation Center held the opening ceremony for its first project, the Horgas Goudgans International Trade Mart Reception Center, at Horgas Port on 17 August. More than one hundred business executives and government officials attended the ceremony, including officials from the Horgas Special Economic Development Zone and the Yili regional government as well as representatives from the local business community. Mr. Liu, Director of the Special Economic Development Zone Administration Committee, Director Chen and Bill Tang, Executive Director of Goudgans China and Acting Chairman of Horgas Goudgans Real Estate, together with Director Liang launched the opening ceremony.

Government officials and honored guests launched the opening ceremony of the Horgas Goudgans International Trade Mart Reception Center.

Horgas Goudgans International Trade Mart, a development project of Horgas Goudgans Real Estate, is an integrated international wholesale trade center offering international wholesale trading, new product research, development and design, new product display and distribution, small-scale manufacturing and processing as well as international warehousing, logistics, trade and financial services.

Horgas Goudgans International Trade Mart, located in the Center, is home to an international construction material wholesaling trade center, an international IT electronic product R&D and display trade center, an international clothing and fabric wholesale trade center, a factory-outlet-style commodity wholesaling trade center, an exhibition trade center for Chinese quality brand name products, a heavy machinery and family vehicle display trade center along with several other display and trade centers specializing in a wide array of products and services. Backed by an investment of more than RMB2 billion (approx. US$308 million), the 300,000-square meter Horgas Goudgans International Trade Mart Phase One will house approximately 8,000 merchants after being put into operation, and expects to generate revenues exceeding RMB50 billion (approx. US$8 billion) annually, making it the largest comprehensive international border free trade and wholesale marketplace covering trade, wholesaling, R&D and display in western China, Central Asia and the CIS countries.

Mr. Liu, director of the Special Economic Development Zone Administration Committee has issued a statement, saying that, as an integral part of the Horgas Economic Special Zone, the Horgas International Border Cooperation Center will officially open for business soon. At that time all entry-exit inspection authorities including customs and border control offices as well as inspection and quarantine bureaus will be relocated to the entranceways of the Center and all the inspection stations previously located at the actual border will be closed. Citizens of China, Kazakhstan and third countries as well as their belongings and vehicles will be allowed free cross-border movement within the Center. In addition, citizens of all countries will be able to stay at the center for up to thirty days without need of a visa. The Center itself will form a separate self-managed unit sealed off from the territories of both China and Kazakhstan. Citizens of both China and Kazakhstan working in the Center will be subject to their respective domestic laws and regulations, relevant intentional conventions and Sino-Kazakh agreements. Currencies used for the payment and transfers of funds in connection with goods and services obtained at the Center will be treated as fully and freely convertible. Banks and financial institutions at the Center will provide cash exchange services in accordance with the respective laws of the country in which the bank or financial institution is domiciled. In addition, according to preferential policies put in place by China's State Council, all customs duties and value added taxes based on the import value paid to bring in construction materials and equipment used by businesses operating at the Center shall be refunded. In accordance with free trade zone policies, companies bringing into the Chinese zone within the Center construction materials and equipment for their own use supplied by Kazakh firms will be exempt from customs duties and import value-added taxes. Goods transported to the Chinese zone within the Center will be subject to customs duties and import value-added taxes according to general trade tax regulations; tourists who enter the Chinese zone in the Center will each be allowed to carry on their personal duty-free goods worth up to RMB8,000 (approx. US$1,230) per day. Furthermore, the State Council also released a series of preferential policies concerning the support facilities of the Center located in the economic development zone: foreign goods brought into the zone shall enjoy protective tariffs; goods transported from the zone to either China or Kazakhstan will be processed based on customs clearing procedures for imported products; goods transported from either China or Kazakhstan into the zone will be processed based on customs clearing procedure for exported products and any taxes paid will be refunded. Goods traded between companies in the zone will be exempt of value-added and consumption taxes. All of these policies are meant to facilitate border trade at Horgas Port, and the Center is positioned to become the most attractive international free trade zone with the most development potential in Central Asia.

Executive Director of Goudgans China and Acting Chairman of Horgas Goudgans Real Estate Bill Tang, said, "As the first completed project at the Center, Horgas Goudgans International Trade Mart is both the pioneer and leader. Horgas Goudgans Real Estate will appoint a world-class business operations management firm to manage the Mart based on international standards and provide a stable, active, international wholesale trade and exhibition platform for merchants and investors alike. By doing so, the Mart expects to do its bit to contribute to the stable development of Xinjiang and boost the development of border trade at Horgas Port. In addition, the company will appoint Shenzhen Milestone Capital Fund Management Co.Ltd., a subsidiary of Goudgans, to design and build a comprehensive financial services system for the development of border trade. The financial services envisioned by the system include petty loans to allow small businesses to engage in international trading, financing guarantees for small and medium-sized businesses as well as logistics, warehousing and international settlement finance. Any merchant in the Mart will automatically become a member of the Horgas Goudgans International Trade Mart credit alliance system and will be entitled to all the financial services provided by the Mart. In addition, Milestone will partner with a domestic commercial bank to launch the 'Horgas Goudgans Border Trade Development Fund', a fund that will provide strong capital support for the Center and surrounding border trade supporting facilities as well as for the development of an infrastructure to support the financial services and RMB settlement services and service systems. We believe that Horgas will set a good example for border trade in China, triggering a new wave of foreign trade between China and Kazakhstan."

Horgas Goudgans Real Estate will host a series of local exhibition tours for the Center between 22 August and 31 October. A press conference will be held at 11:00 AM on August 22 in the Ili Hotel, 4th Floor, Tian Shan Hall. With its unique location and the advantages provided by the preferential policies, Horgas expects the tours to further elevate its international reputation and brand awareness.