Le Thi Haong said she was happy working and living in the city of Dongxing, bordering Vietnam.

The 35-year-old employee of Yicheng Foods Development Co Ltd now earns nearly$580 a month, compared to the less than $290 her counterparts are earning in her hometown, about 400 kilometers away in Vietnam.

"The working and living environments are good and the Chinese colleagues are very nice," said Le, who has been with the company for more than 3 years. "And I can leave the company for home at any time when I want to."

Le is just one of the growing large number of Vietnamese workers in Dongxing under the administration of Fangchenggang.

In Yicheng Foods, the number of Vietnamese staff has now reached more than 250, representing more than one-third of the company's total.

Xiong Yong, manager of the human resources department, said his company is expecting to increase the number of staff from Vietnam in the future if his application is approved by relevant departments.

Local authorities said recruiting a Vietnamese worker helps a company save between$1,800 and$2,100 in costs each year.

A total of 13 companies in Dongxing have now been approved to employ more than 1,000 workers from Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The figures will be increased from 20 to 30 companies, employing between 5,000 and 10,000 workers from ASEAN, in the coming years.

Meanwhile, construction of the Dongxing-Mong Cai Cross Border Economic Cooperation Zone is expected to accelerate when infrastructure facilities are improved this year.

In addition to high-speed railway tracks to Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, and Guilin, a major tourism city in Guangxi, an expressway linking the zone to Fangchenggang, a major import and export hub port in Guangxi, has also been put into service.

A new bridge crossing Beilun river and linking Dongxing to Mong Cai in Vietnam has almost been completed. The 467-meter-long bridge, which cost $31.9 million, including $26.1 million from China, is expected to open to traffic before the end of the year, enhancing economic ties between the two nations.

The zone includes a financial business area, Shenzhen Electronic Science and Technology Industrial Park, Hong Kong Textile and Garment Industrial Park, Home Furnishing and Building Materials Industrial Park and Food Processing Industry Park.

The financial business area, which covers an area of 2.06 square kilometers with a construction floor space of more than 1 million square meters, is planned to reach an annual industrial production output value of more than 38 billion yuan and offer more than 10,000 employment opportunities. Construction of the area costs nearly$800 million.