Feb. 17 -- The Guangxi Qinzhou Free Trade Port Area in south China, the only bonded zone on the western coast of China, began operation on Wednesday, a port official said.

The free trade port area, China's sixth bonded port, is located in the coastal city of Qinzhou in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is the closest bonded port to ASEAN countries.

The port covers a planned area of 10 square km and is located in the core region of Guangxi's Beibu Gulf Economic Zone. The area covers 42,500 square km in Nanning, Beihai, Qinzhou and Fangchenggang.

"We strive to build the bonded port as the core platform for the development of the Beibu Gulf Economic Region, as well as the regional international shipping center, logistics center and the import and export processing base," said Zhang Xiaoqin, chief of the Qinzhou City Committee of the Communist Party of China.