Over the past two years, plant-based food consumption has grown by 49% across the EU, reaching a total sales volume of €3.6 billion.
Brunei and China target 3 industrial parks in Guangxi province
2025-05-15
Brunei and China are in talks to establish three industrial parks in southern Guangxi province to boost trade and investment along the Brunei-Guangxi Economic Corridor. The corridor will serve as a link for duty-free direct sales, with the goal of creating a bio-innovation joint venture exceeding 500 million.
Yang Jian of the Chinese Embassy said one industrial park will be dedicated to producing halal food, another to traditional Chinese herbal medicine, and a third to wetland cultivation, fisheries, and oyster farms. "We plan to jointly process and export these products... We are also discussing and developing specific projects," she said. "Both China and Brunei will steadily make the Brunei-Guangxi Economic Corridor a reality. Cooperation in agriculture, halal food processing, biological preparations, shipping, tourism, and other areas, as well as cultural and people-to-people exchanges, will be further strengthened," she added.
In a previous report, Minister of Industry and Primary Resources Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Setia Hj Yahya Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Hj Bakar (Pic) stated that bilateral cooperation will focus on the development of Brunei's halal food industry. He explained that "almost zero tariffs have impacted China and ASEAN, and Brunei has long served as an intermediary, exporting products from South America and Europe to China." The minister stated in the Brunei Times last September that "Brunei can serve as a gateway for the Chinese market to these countries." Other countries have also seen an opportunity to export halal-certified food to the Chinese market through Brunei's strict halal certification process. "We want to develop halal industries and bio-innovation in Brunei and China. We have already established a bio-innovation corridor (in Brunei), and we also want to develop (food production) (in Guangxi)," he said.
In 2014, the Bio-Innovation Corridor (BIC) was established in the Islamic territory – a 500-hectare halal-themed industrial park partially funded by Chinese investors. When asked about the initial investment required to establish the economic corridor, the minister stated that over 500 million would be needed to establish Brunei as a key player in the halal food processing industry. "We will seek investment from both China and Brunei, as there won't be many Bruneian investors given the large amount of capital involved," the minister said. "We are looking at investment mechanisms such as an investment consortium or China-ASEAN infrastructure investments in agriculture, ports, freight, and food processing."