Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province and Sanya Cross-border E-commerce Industrial Park Co Ltd ink an agreement to jointly construct a facility designed to sell goods imported from Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) in Sanya, Hainan province. [Photo/Ningbo Daily]

Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province and Sanya Cross-border E-commerce Industrial Park Co Ltd recently inked an agreement to jointly construct a facility designed to sell goods imported from Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) in Sanya, Hainan province.

The agreement was reached by the two sides during the ongoing first China International Consumer Products Expo in Haikou, capital city of Hainan.

The facility will leverage advantages from the two sides, with the aim of seeing import volume exceed $20 million in five years.

Ningbo has seen closer economic and trade ties with CEEC in recent years. In 2020, imports and exports between Ningbo and CEEC totaled 29.52 billion yuan ($4.54 billion), a yearly increase of 3.7 percent and 1.5 percent higher than the provincial average.

By utilizing the marketing channels set up by Ningbo in CEEC, the products will be directly imported by the facility to Hainan by sea and enjoy preferential tax policies on the island, according to Wang Dongqing, president of Sanya Cross-border E-commerce Industrial Park Co Ltd.

The company, which owns a 12,000-square-meter import commodity exhibition and sales center in Sanya, plans to import goods from CEEC like wine, biscuits, coffee, and mineral water.

Lower prices due to preferential tax policies will make the imports competitive. For example, wine will be 45 percent cheaper than other places in the nation, while the price of mineral water will also be 17percent lower, said Wang

To date, Ningbo has set up five such facilities nationwide and the figure is expected to increase to 60 this year. In addition to the new facility in Sanya, the other four are located in Hangzhou, Wuhan, Fuzhou, and Xishuangbanna. 

The second China-CEEC Expo & International Consumer Goods Fair is slated to be held in Ningbo from June 8 to 11, the government announced on April 19.