By Ren Ping, As a significant strategic measure to advance reform and opening up, the establishment of pilot free trade zones (FTZs) and the Hainan Free Trade Port marks an epitome of China’s efforts to promote high-level opening up.
From setting up the first pilot FTZ in Shanghai, China now boasts a formation consisting of 22 pilot FTZs. Together with the thriving Hainan FTP, they serve as comprehensive experimental platforms for reform and opening up.
Today, the 22 pilot free trade zones make up an innovative pattern of reform and opening up that covers the entire country. With less than 0.4 percent of China’s land area, they account for approximately 1/5 of the country’s total foreign investment and foreign trade.
Compared to opening up based on flows of goods and factors of production, institutional opening up with regard to rules, regulations, management, and standards, represents a higher level of openness. With a focus on institutional opening up, a large number of landmark and leading achievements have been made in institutional innovation.
Recently, the 2024 version of the negative list for foreign investment access was released. In comparison to the 2021 version, the new negative list reduces the number of restrictions from 31 to 29, achieving zero restrictions on the manufacturing sector. Aligning with international first-class standards at a higher level, it solidly leads the pace of reform and opening up.
The Hainan FTP put into operation a multi-functional free trade account system, which greatly facilitates cross-border fund transfers for enterprises. Accelerating the alignment of domestic regulations with international standards, the system promotes deep-level reform at a faster pace.
Following the implementation of an international trade single window system, the Xiamen area of China (Fujian) Pilot FTZ has seen significantly shortened time for goods declaration and release. The system has made it a thing of the past for enterprises to log in to multiple systems, fill out multiple forms, and make multiple trips to the port. Innovating management models to improve efficiency, the system is making further efforts to build first-class business environment.
So far, successful practices in 349 cases of innovation in institutional reform have been promoted at the national level, leading to a favorable situation where dividends of reform and opening up are shared by all.
China’s efforts to promote alignment with high-standard international economic and trade rules also provide solid support for establishing a new system for higher-level open economy.
It is reported that since the issuance of a circular on piloting international high standards and promoting institutional opening-up in some eligible pilot FTZs and the Hainan FTP in June 2023, all pilot measures have been fully implemented.
For instance, the Beijing Pilot FTZ started piloting a mutual recognition mechanism for domestic and foreign professional qualifications and certifications; the Tianjin Pilot FTZ also introduced multiple innovative measures, including six-hour customs clearance for air express shipments. Besides, regulations on international commercial arbitration have been put into place in the Hainan FTP.
In May this year, Tesla broke ground on a energy storage mega factory in the Lingang new area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot FTZ. The project went from negotiation to signing in just one month, once again setting a new record for “Lingang speed.”
It is expected that the factory will have an energy storage capacity of nearly 40 GWh upon completion, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 50,000 households in Shanghai.
From the implementation of the foreign investment law and the regulation on optimizing business environment, to the introduction of the negative list for cross-border trade in services, and to the efforts made to advance institutional opening up through alignment with high-standard international economic and trade rules… As China continuously builds a business environment that is based on market principles, governed by law and up to international standards, it is attracting more and more foreign investment.
In the first seven months of this year, 31,654 new foreign-invested enterprises were established in China, representing a year-on-year growth of 11.4 percent. The “next China” is still China. China will still remain the best investment destination globally.
China’s pilot FTZs and the Hainan FTP pursue differentiated and specialized development paths. They support the development of new industries, new business forms, and new models, gradually becoming demonstrators and leaders of China’s high-quality development.
The Tianjin Pilot FTZ, focusing on the financial leasing industry, has grown into the world’s second largest hub for aircraft leasing. The Hubei Pilot FTZ has attracted over 16,000 optoelectronic information enterprises, becoming China’s largest technology research and production base in the field of optical communication. The Jiangsu Pilot FTZ is home to nearly 4,000 bio-pharmaceutical enterprises, with an annual output value of nearly 300 billion yuan ($42.58 billion).
From the pilot FTZs to the Hainan Free Trade Port, and from coastal to inland areas, China is steadfastly advancing high-level opening up, continuously injecting new impetus into the world economic development, and providing new opportunities for deepening mutually beneficial cooperation with countries around the world.
