Feature: Chinese-developed industrial park thriving in Vietnam

"Chinese investment here is on a large scale and it brings us employment opportunities and also advanced technologies, which can benefit our country," said Ngo Thi Thuy, a young member of a Chinese-invested company at the Yun Zhong industrial park.

The Yun Zhong industrial park is located some 40 kilometers from Vietnam's capital Hanoi on Highway 1A which connects Vietnam and China. A total of 30 factories, with uniform white walls and blue roofs, and run by 13 companies, are operating in the industrial park now in its first phase of development.

"The working environment here is very professional and comfortable," said 26-year-old Thuy of the Vina Solar Technology Company.

Unlike Vina Solar, the Shengtai Garment Company is currently the sole company at the Yun Zhong industrial park that uses an intensive labor force, and was also the first to settle at the park.

Despite the hot and humid weather outside, hundreds of workers at Shengtai work effectively and methodically in a clean and tidy environment.

The company developing and running the Yun Zhong industrial park is a Chinese private enterprise called the Fuhua Co. Ltd.

Yao Ziran, general director of Fuhua, told Xinhua that the construction of the industrial park started in July 2013 and since then, as many as 30 factories have been built in an area of 165, 000 square meters, and all of them have been rented. Among the 13 companies operating in Yun Zhong, eight are from China. Fuhua is building over 50 more factories for its fifth and sixth phase of the development plan.

China in the past 11 years has remained the biggest trading partner of Vietnam. In 2014, Vietnam became the second-largest partner of China in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, according to the regional bloc.

As of June 20, 2015, China invested some 8.13 billion U.S. dollars in 1,141 projects in Vietnam, ranking ninth among foreign investors in the Southeast Asian country, said the Foreign Investment Agency under Vietnam's Ministry of Planning and Investment.

The development of the Yun Zhong industrial park can be seen as an example of the future prospects of investment cooperation between China and Vietnam.

As to the reason an industrial park constructed and managed by a private enterprise attracts so many Chinese companies, Yao explained the rationale from three points.

Firstly, Fuhua's parent company has been operating in Vietnam for many years, cultivating its qualification and ability in the construction sector. The company can provide a ready-made plant with necessary power facilities services and drainage systems, among others, according to the customers' requirements within a short time.

Secondly, the Yun Zhong industrial park can provide consultation on tax issues and other services relating to business licensing, which help facilitate the investment businesses in Vietnam. This model, according to Yao, is quite rare in Vietnamese industrial parks.

Furthermore, companies in Yun Zhong can fully enjoy preferential investment policies of the Vietnamese government regarding tax, including exemption of corporate income tax in the first two years of investment, and reduction by half in the next four years, Yao said.

As for high-tech enterprises, the park can help them apply for more attractive tax breaks from the government, Yao added.

The location of Yun Zhong is also one of its advantages, Yao told Xinhua. Bac Giang province is situated very close to the Hai Phong seaport, the Friendship Border Gate connecting China and the Noi Bai international airport in Hanoi, which are very convenient for imports, exports and cargo shipments.

In recent years, many electronics companies from South Korea and China's Taiwan have invested in northern Vietnam, which led to the arrival of Chinese companies operating in supporting industries to Vietnam.

From Yun Zhong, it is easy to reach Hanoi, Thai Nguyen, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh and Bac Ninh in northern Vietnam, where many electronics companies are located.

Jintu Precision Metal (Vietnam) is a company making mobile phone component parts for Samsung.

Lee Yong Kyu, the president of Jintu, told Xinhua that Samsung requires all companies making its component parts to stay within a radius of 50 kilometers from the main factory, and Yun Zhong meets this requirement.

"We receive many orders here and now the business operation is good," Lee said.

However, the biggest lure of Yun Zhong to Chinese companies, according to Yao, is the friendly relations between China and Vietnam, as well as the improvement in the country's investment climate, which leads to the increasing of Chinese investment.

"Fuhua will make full preparations, take advantages of 'the Belt and Road' and 'Two Corridors, One Belt' initiatives to accelerate the next phases of construction to attract more enterprises, thus promoting cooperation between China and Vietnam in the fields of production, trade and people-to-people exchanges, " Yao told Xinhua.

"I came to work here thanks to an introduction from my friend who said the working environment was good and there were plenty of promotion opportunities. Since working here, I have found that all those things are true. I will recommend more of my friends to come here," Thuy said.

Seeing chances of attaining good jobs, more and more Vietnamese people have turned to Yun Zhong. Currently, there are some 6,700 Vietnamese employees working in the industrial park. Many of them have learned about modern technologies and started studying Chinese to find more opportunities for development.

"I studied foreign trade at university. After graduation, I decided to learn Chinese as there are more and more investments coming from China," Thuy said, adding that the decision to study Chinese was a good one indeed. Endi