China News Service, April 28, Tang Wenhong, director of the Free Trade Zone Port Department of the Ministry of Commerce, said on the 28th that in the first quarter of this year, 18 foreign trade zones in the country actually utilized 28.9 billion yuan of foreign capital, accounting for 13.4% of the country.
Tang Wenhong pointed out that although the 18 free trade pilot zones are in different stages of development, on the whole, the concentration of target industries in their respective free trade pilot zones has been continuously improved. The innovation achievements around the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain are rich, and the effect on the surrounding radiation is obvious.
As an example, Tang Wenhong said that the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone strives to promote the construction of the Shanghai International Economic Center, International Financial Center, International Trade Center and International Shipping Center, and promotes the development of cutting-edge industries where finance, services and key core technologies are breakthroughs; Zhejiang Pilot Free Trade Zone Special focus on the development of the entire oil and gas industry chain; Hubei Pilot Free Trade Zone strives to build five industrial clusters of integrated circuits, optoelectronic information, artificial intelligence, biomedicine, and new energy vehicles; Hainan Pilot Free Trade Zone has established tourism, modern service industries, and high-tech The three leading industries in the industry; the Yunnan Free Trade Zone focuses on the development of high-end manufacturing, aviation logistics, health services, cross-border tourism, and cross-border e-commerce; the Hebei Free Trade Zone develops big data transactions, data centers, and digital content High-end digital trade format. The respective trade pilot zones will continue to give play to the advantages of system innovation, accelerate the integration and improvement of the industrial chain of key development industries, promote the acceleration of the clustering of characteristic advantageous industries, cultivate new advantages in international competition, and further improve the leading role for high-quality development.
Tang Wenhong said that the overall plans of the 18 pilot free trade zones nationwide have defined the leading industries in each zone. The Ministry of Commerce will specifically sort out the leading industries in the respective trade pilot zones and publish them on the website of the Port Division of the Free Trade Zone of the Ministry of Commerce for everyone to inquire.
Tang Wenhong said that the Pilot Free Trade Zone has always been an opening highland to China, and it is an important platform for China to use foreign capital. In the first quarter of this year, 18 foreign trade pilot zones nationwide actually utilized 28.9 billion yuan of foreign capital, accounting for 13.4% of the country. Various uncertain factors affecting the world economy are currently increasing. The Pilot Free Trade Zone will coordinate the advancement of epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, firmly stay at the forefront of expanding opening up, and provide more support for foreign companies to develop in China. The following aspects:
One is to create a more open and transparent access environment. The openness of the Pilot Free Trade Zone has always been among the highest in the country. The negative list of foreign investment admittance in the Pilot Free Trade Zone has been shortened from the original 190 to 37 in the 2019 edition. The pilot reform of the “separation of licenses” initiated by the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone has become an important measure to deepen the reform of “delegation of service” . We will further reduce the negative list of foreign investment access in the Pilot Free Trade Zone, and thoroughly carry out the pilot project of full-coverage reform of the “separation of licenses” in the Pilot Free Trade Zone of the country to provide foreign companies with a more open and transparent access environment.
The second is to create a more business-friendly business environment. The respective trade pilot zones focused on the attention of market players, worked hard to solve the difficulties in enterprise construction and production operations, and continuously improved the government's service level. For example, it took only one year from the start of construction of the factory to the delivery of the first car to provide a "personal" service for the Tesla project in the Lingang New Area of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone. During the epidemic situation, Guangdong Pilot Free Trade Zone selected 100 key personnel as "grid members" and "enterprise liaison officers" to enter the enterprise for the same work and the same production, helping enterprises to resume production. The Nanjing Free Trade Zone of Jiangsu Pilot Free Trade Zone actively promoted the establishment of an international arbitration court and the establishment of an international commercial mediation center with professional institutions in Hong Kong. The Sichuan Pilot Free Trade Zone launched a fast-tracking mechanism for IPR-typed cases to raise the level of rule of law.
The third is to create a more active and precise policy environment. During the epidemic situation, on the one hand, the respective trade pilot zones accelerated the implementation of the national and provincial and municipal assistance policies issued on the one hand, on the other hand, they promptly studied and launched a number of measures to stabilize foreign investment. For example, the Yantai area of the Shandong Pilot Free Trade Zone has specifically introduced 8 measures including the opening of fully closed channels for entry and pre-declaration of entry information. For key foreign-invested projects, priority will be included in the "standard land" project database to strive for special land use indicators. The Caofeidian area of the Hebei Free Trade Zone has introduced 16 policies and measures to support the resumption of production and production of foreign-funded enterprises in terms of deferred tax declaration, enhanced customs clearance facilitation coordination, and implementation of export credit guarantee policies. In addition, the respective trade pilot zones accelerated the implementation of the "Foreign Investment Law" and supporting regulations, comprehensively canceled the approval of the commercial department for the establishment and modification of foreign-funded enterprises, and implemented a high-quality information reporting system to continue efforts in investment promotion and investment protection. Set a benchmark for the transformation of government functions.
The fourth is to create a more active and efficient innovation environment. The respective trade pilot zones actively carry out system innovation, facilitate the flow of innovation elements, and support the transformation of innovation achievements. For example, the Nanning area of the Guangxi Pilot Free Trade Zone has introduced several measures to support the development of talents, increase support for talent innovation and entrepreneurship financing, and strive to build a core area of ASEAN-oriented regional international talent highlands. The Tianjin Pilot Free Trade Zone has established a "green card" system for talents, and the introduction of more than 90% of personnel services can be handled immediately. The Shandong Pilot Free Trade Zone Jinan District innovatively conducts talent and technology capitalization assessments and can obtain credit from financial institutions without mortgage. The Harbin area of the Heilongjiang Free Trade Zone establishes a creative and intellectual property collection, storage and cultivation mechanism to encourage entrepreneurs to quickly transform scientific research achievements in the area.
Tang Wenhong emphasized that institutional innovation is the lifeline of the reform of the Pilot Free Trade Zone, and corporate appeals are the source of power for institutional innovation. The Pilot Free Trade Zone treats domestic and foreign companies equally and fairly, regardless of whether they are in the past, present, or future. Call for an open, transparent and predictable foreign investment environment.