RCEP: new opportunities and new business formats

Following the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a host of new opportunities and new business formats have emerged in the course of supply chain remodelling. In light of this, the Lingang Group, leveraging on the geographical advantage of the Shanghai Nangang Wharf, has set up a Tesla service support team. This team will bolster supply chain service solutions for Tesla and carry out large‑scale roll‑on/roll‑off operations in export to meet Tesla’s demand for “complete vehicle logistics, parts and components warehousing, provisional vehicle storage yards, fast‑track transportation, and supporting transport infrastructure for industrial parks”. The group’s next move will focus on “vehicle roll‑on/roll‑off, cold chains for live and fresh produce, and heavy and bulky items”. In addition to providing quality services to key industrial clients such as Tesla, Toyota and Sany Heavy Industry Co Ltd, the group aims to make full use of facilities clustered around the Shanghai Nangang Port to enhance the ranking and importance of Nangang’s service industry.

Lingang Special Area. (2) (Photo source: Lingang Group)

Moreover, the Lingang Group’s big trading platform helps to co‑ordinate connections between trading enterprises and service providers (e.g. banks) in its industrial parks, promoting business co‑operation in such areas as trade financing, settlement facilitation and cross‑border cash pooling. The group’s innovative financial services for bonded warehouse supply chains aim to co‑ordinate businesses such as banks, comprehensive bonded logistics operators and traders in building a standard asset management system and help enterprises to handle bonded supply chain business. In particular, efforts are being made to help industry players comply with such international agreements as RCEP and CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership), and to promote the strong growth of industries like bonded maintenance, remanufacturing, and cross‑border e‑commerce.

Looking to the future

The Lingang Group will continue to uphold its mission as a “promoter of industry development” to advance high quality development of Shanghai and Hong Kong. The group is impressed by Hong Kong’s top‑notch electronics and bio‑technology sectors, as well as its diverse supply channels for industrial essentials and its vigorous innovation environment. By combining the strength of its dedicated industrial parks for integrated circuits and biomedicine (such as Oriental IC Port, Life Science Blue Bay, and an innovative IC city in Pujiang) and its rich experience in industrialising research achievements, the group is actively creating a platform for industries in Shanghai and Hong Kong to boost joint development and collaboration between companies in the two cities. The group can also take advantage of Hong Kong’s strengths in the financial, business and legal sectors to help enterprises in the parks to grow business and seek public listings in Hong Kong. Continued efforts will be made by the Lingang Group to maintain its role as a "Promoter of Sci‑tech Innovation and Industry Development, Driver of Regional Transformation and Urban Renewal" and to exchange ideas with various sectors in Hong Kong as well as serving enterprises in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Note: A senior executive of the Shanghai Lingang Group was interviewed online by representatives of HKTDC Research and the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce in the third quarter of 2022.