Seven Pilot Free Trade Zones (FTZs) of Liaoning, Zhejiang, Henan, Hubei, Chongqing, Sichuan and Shaanxi are in a dedicated effort to fully promote the resumption of work and production. Specifically, Hubei FTZ has launched the “commitment and resumption” measures for medical device enterprise, and fully supports qualified enterprises to transform their production into epidemic prevention materials. Henan FTZ has organized events including the “Online Investment Week” and “Bank-Enterprise Networking Symposium” to help enterprises collect resources, and attract key projects and capital. Zhejiang FTZ accurately connects labor-exporting provinces like Anhui and Sichuan, strengthens services for recruiting and transporting workers through multiple means such as chartered airplanes and buses. Shaanxi FTZ and Sichuan FTZ transport epidemic prevention materials on China-Europe freight trains to support a new front in the battle for life. All the FTZs have made full use of their institutional innovation, launched support policies aimed at the challenges faced by the enterprises, established contact mechanisms for key companies, opened up green channels, adopted digital means, and provided financial support, so as to help relieve their difficulties, and actively promoted the prevention and control of the epidemics and the work resumption. As of now, the resumption rates of enterprises above designated size located in the seven FTZs have all reached 100%.
“These seven FTZs spread across China in the east, middle and west areas, and the resumption of FTZ enterprises has important implications for stabilizing the foreign trade and foreign capital.” Said Zhang Jianping, member of the Expert Committee of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), director of the Research Center for Regional Economic Cooperation of Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation (CAITEC), in an interview with China Trade News. FTZs, due to their great reform and opening up scales, high degree of facilitation and liberalization for trade and investment, and nationwide leading institutional innovations, should play a positive and guiding role in ensuring stable foreign trade, foreign investment, growth and employment in their respective provinces, regions and even the whole country.
Zhang said, promoting the resumption of work and production is also conducive to the full and multifaceted absorption of domestic and foreign capital to the free trade zones. They should also take the chance to scale up their efforts in optimizing the business environment, attracting talent, forming high value-added manufacturing and service industry clusters, and vigorously cultivate new business forms, new models and new growth drivers, so as to truly form a new momentum of innovation-driven and open development.
The seven FTZs have been operating since April 2017. Over the past three years, the seven FTZs gave full play to their respective advantages and achieved excellent results in promoting the Reforms to “delegate power, streamline administration and optimize government services”, serving national major strategies, and creating new dynamics in emerging industries. For example, the Liaoning FTZ has built itself into the gateway to Northeast Asia, and made solid progress in the reform of state-owned assets and enterprises; Hubei FTZ has created five industrial clusters in integrated circuits, optoelectronic information, artificial intelligence, biopharma and new energy automobiles; Henan FTZ has promoted regulatory innovation for cross-border e-commerce, and established Zhengzhou as the country’s largest cross-border e-commerce trading center for imported cosmetics and health products.
Tang Wenhong, Director of the Department of Pilot Free Trade Zone and Free Trade Port of the Ministry of Commerce, said that, in the face of the complex and severe conditions of the epidemic and uncertainties of the world economy, the FTZs will be the steadfast leaders in expanding the opening-up, and deal with the economic uncertainties in the world with the certainties of opening-up. Tang explained that, in order to better serve the opening up, and stabilize foreign trade and investment, the FTZs are promoting several works simultaneously: First, they are giving their utmost to resume work and production, restore and consolidate the supply chain, to ensure the re-operation of the global supply chain and economic stability. Second, the negative list of foreign investment access will be further shortened, and the business environment optimized, in order to increase the confidence of global investors. Third, the FTZs take the lead in implementing policies to stabilize foreign trade and foreign investment, facilitate and strengthen the export-oriented economy and stimulate the vitality of market players.
"In light of increased risk of global economic recession, the FTZs should actively guide enterprises to identify the value of and increase the use of free trade agreements, to build a integration pattern of Free Trade Areas (FTAs) and FTZs. Zhang proposed that domestic FTZs should connect with FTAs which have signed bilateral or multilateral free trade agreements with China when opening up to the world. The integration pattern can help further deepen the institutional innovations of FTZs, and promote the diversification of foreign trade markets through the existing channels.
In addition, Zhang suggested that the FTZs should take advantage of their openness, strengthen communication with industry and business associations, serve better as information platforms, actively provide help to enterprises for the resumption of production in terms of policy coordination, project cooperation, search for new orders and increased efforts for the domestic sales of export-oriented commodities. Meanwhile, they should further strengthen cooperation with “Belt and Road” partners to ensure the smooth progress of these projects, so as to effectively drive the development of foreign trade. FTZs should also focus on the connection among industrial clusters, as well as among the upstream, midstream and downstream of the industrial chains, to ensure the stability of supply chains and better deal with the current challenges.
“China is gradually strengthening the rule of law in the Free Trade Zones. From January 1 this year, the Foreign Investment Law has been officially put into effect, the FTZs should strictly implement it in a timely manner.” Zhang believes that, in the process of expanding the opening up of trade and services in finance, telecommunications, medical care, education and other aspects, the FTZs should seize the new opportunities and encourage enterprises to promote the innovation-driven development.
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