Friendly Cooperation City - Qinzhou (China)
Qinzhou is a coastal city located in South Guangzi, standing at the top of Biebu Gulf. It is the centre of the city cluster of Nanning, Beihai, Qinzhou and Fangchenggang, with Nanning City 110 kms to the north, Beihai City 98 kms to the East and Fangchenggang City 76kms to the West.
Enjoying these advantages, Qinzhou has become the transportation hub of Guangxi Beibu Gulf economic zone, the forefront city of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, as well as the most convenient sea gateway for Southwest China.
Qinzhou Free Trade Port is a category 1 port with 55 productive berths and the channel caters for ships up to 100,000 DWT, making the port capable of handling cargoes up to 53.46 million tonnes. Construction goes well for 15 berths of 70,000 DWT to 300,000 DWT and the ship channel of 300,000 DWT heading towards Qinzhou Port. Total handling capacity of the port is estimated to reach 120 million DWT by the end of the 12th five year plan (2011-2015).
The Qinzhou Agreement
In February 2014, Cr Mal Forman, Mayor of Bundaberg Regional Council, led a trade delegation to Qinzhou. During the visit, Cr Forman held a talk with the Mayor of Qinzhou, Mr Li Xinyuan to discuss potential trade opportunities between the two cities.
The two Mayors also discussed the possibility of establishing a Friendly Cooperation City Relationship between Bundaberg and Qinzhou.
Prior to Cr Forman's visit a number of Councillors including Cr Batt, Cr Sommerfeld and Cr Forgan also visited Qinzhou in June 2012. The former Mayor of Qinzhou, Ms Xiao Yingzi hosted three Councillors at a formal meeting.
Built upon a strong foundation of friendly government to government exchange activities and discussions, the two Cities formally agreed to establish a Friendly Cooperation City Relationship. In it's Ordinary Meeting on 22 July 2014, Bundaberg Regional Council voted unanimously in favour of signing the Agreement with Qinzhou.
The official signing ceremony was held in Nanning during 2014 China-ASEAN Expo on September 16. Councillor Forman and Mayor Li signed the Agreement on behalf of their respective Governments. Councillor Bush and Mr Peter Byrne, CEO of Bundaberg Regional Council also attended the ceremony.
This Friendly City Relationship with Qinzhou will benefit Bundaberg's key industries such as food processing, agribusiness and manufacturing in exporting their products into the Chinese market.