Although Brunei is a small country, why do Chinese companies come here one after another?

Brunei, a member of ASEAN, has a land area of 5,765 square kilometers and a population of 430,000 (2021). The political situation in Brunei is stable, and the country is safe and peaceful. Brunei's economy is based on the oil and gas industry, and the non-oil and gas industries mainly include manufacturing, construction, finance, agriculture, forestry, and fishery.

China and Brunei have had close exchanges since ancient times, and the ancient Maritime Silk Road was the main trade route between the two sides.

The economy and trade of the two countries are highly complementary. The construction of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, the joint construction of the "Belt and Road", and the establishment of the strategic partnership between the two countries have created new development opportunities for Chinese economic cooperation.

In recent years, China-Brunei relations have developed rapidly, political mutual trust has continued to deepen, and economic and trade cooperation has seen many bright spots.

Among foreign investors in Brunei, Chinese-funded enterprises are the main force

In recent years, among foreign investors in Brunei, Chinese-funded enterprises are the main force. Hengyi, China State Construction, China Harbor, Sinohydro, China Railway Construction, Huawei, Bank of China (هونغ كونغ) Co., Ltd. and other powerful Chinese companies have landed in Brunei, involving petrochemical, finance, infrastructure construction, telecommunications, manufacturing These investments have become an important driving force for Brunei's economic development.

As China's largest investment project in Brunei, and also one of the flagship cooperation projects between the two countries, Hengyi Petrochemical Damora Island Comprehensive Refining Project and other related projects operated by Hengyi Industrial have made the downstream industrial chain of Brunei's oil and gas industry It has been extended to become a new engine for Brunei's economic growth.

In addition to the Hengyi petrochemical project, several cooperation projects such as the "Guangxi-Brunei Economic Corridor" have also made positive contributions to Brunei's accelerated economic development and economic diversification.

The digital economy cooperation between China and China has achieved positive results. Huawei has contributed to the construction of 3G and 4G networks in Brunei and is actively discussing 5G cooperation. Beijing Yidu Cloud Company assisted the Brunei government to develop the epidemic response platform and the Healthy Brunei APP, which played an important role in Brunei's successful fight against the epidemic. The Wecare e-commerce platform developed by Chinese-funded enterprises in Brunei provides safe and convenient shopping channels for the public. The digital economy has become a new highlight of Chinese-language cooperation.

In 2022, the trade volume between China and Brunei will reach US$3.08 billion, a year-on-year increase of 8.4%. Among them, China's exports to Brunei reached US$830 million, a year-on-year increase of 30.4%.

As of 2021, Chinese-funded enterprises have signed a total of US$3.63 billion in project contracting contracts in Brunei, and completed a turnover of US$4.26 billion. In 2021, Chinese-funded enterprises will newly sign engineering contracts worth US$52.51 million, a year-on-year increase of 73.4%. Chinese companies have undertaken or participated in the construction of key projects such as the Ulududong Dam, the Trisai-Roumu Expressway, the Great Mora Island Bridge and the Sultan Omar Saifuddin Bridge, which have significantly improved the level of connectivity in Brunei.

A model of harmonious co-existence, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation

In November 2022, when Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Brunei Sultan Hassanal, he stated that China and Brunei are close neighbors across the sea, friends who trust each other, and partners for common development. A model of win-win. The two sides should maintain communication and exchanges, make good use of the intergovernmental joint steering committee mechanism, coordinate and promote practical cooperation in various fields, deepen the docking of development strategies, promote high-quality "Belt and Road" key projects, deepen cooperation in infrastructure, agriculture, fishery, energy and other fields, and create The growth point of green development and digital economic cooperation, and the orderly development of personnel exchanges and people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two countries. Hassanal expressed that he is willing to work with China to promote Brunei-China relations to a higher level, and welcomes China to actively participate in Brunei's economic diversification process and strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, education, humanities, sports, and defense.

Currently, the Brunei government is implementing the "Vision 2035" to promote economic diversification, create a more friendly and convenient business environment, and enhance investor confidence. Brunei Sultan Hassanal said that the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative will lead the process of regional economic recovery. Brunei looks forward to jointly promoting the high-quality development of the "Belt and Road" with China, expanding regional and sub-regional cooperation, strengthening connectivity, and creating a better future. Prospects.

China-Brunei economic and trade cooperation has a solid foundation and promising cooperation prospects

Xu Ningning, executive chairman of the China-ASEAN Business Council, chairman of the RCEP Industrial Cooperation Committee, and China's chief ASEAN business expert, recently said that 2023 is the fifth anniversary of the establishment of a strategic partnership between Chinese and Chinese. The cooperation between China and China has broad space, great potential and bright prospects. The two countries should implement innovative and pragmatic cooperation, precise docking cooperation, and overall planning and supporting cooperation, strengthen industrial cooperation, jointly build the "Belt and Road", jointly build the Guangxi-Brunei Economic Corridor, and jointly promote the upgrade of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area , China-ASEAN Eastern Economic Growth Area Cooperation, RCEP regional economic integration construction. As a China-ASEAN dialogue and cooperation mechanism, the China-ASEAN Business Council is playing a functional role. This year, it will organize a delegation of Chinese entrepreneurs to investigate business opportunities and help the new development of mutually beneficial cooperation between enterprises of the two countries.