18 Free Trade Zones have carried out differentiated explorations and pioneered a new path of "delegation, regulation and service"——
Inject new vitality into China and the global economy
Li Hualin, reporter of Economic Daily and China Economic Net
Since the establishment of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone in September 2013, my country has successively approved the establishment of 18 pilot free trade zones. In recent years, major free trade zones have carried out in-depth differentiated explorations, bravely embarking on a new path of "delegating control and service", promoting a significant increase in the level of trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, accelerating the agglomeration of market entities, effective institutional innovation, and a gradual risk prevention and control system Perfect, continuously inject new vitality into the Chinese economy and even the global economy.
The pilot free trade zone is a new height of reform and opening up in the new era, and an important platform for China to absorb foreign investment. According to recent surveys conducted by the Ministry of Commerce, foreign-funded enterprises believe that efficient government services, trade facilitation, and investment liberalization are the three most attractive factors for the Pilot Free Trade Zone.
Each has its own characteristics and advantages
Since the official establishment of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone in September 2013, my country has successively approved the establishment of 18 pilot free trade zones, forming a reform and opening up innovation pattern covering the east, west, south, north and middle. Over the past seven years, the major free trade pilot zones have conducted in-depth differentiated explorations in response to the difficulties and obstacles that market players are concerned about, combined with their respective strategic positioning, location conditions, and industrial foundations to form a synergistic effect.
The Tianjin Pilot Free Trade Zone, one of the goals of building a high-level free trade zone facing the world, focuses on the optimization and innovation of trade clearance. According to Jia Di, Executive Deputy District Mayor of Binhai New Area, Tianjin, the "New Model of Used Car Export Business" provides a new idea for the automobile export trade. The "New Model of Bonded Jet Fuel Export Mass Flowmeter Measurement" has reduced the length of customs operations by 50%. The license approval service model of "one-port acceptance and parallel processing" realizes "at most one run", which greatly saves the time for enterprises to apply for licenses.
Zhong Muda, deputy director of the Fujian Provincial Department of Commerce, introduced that the Fujian Pilot Free Trade Zone has vigorously promoted reforms in investment, trade, and Taiwan, and strived to create a first-class business environment. "Bank-Tax Interaction" has issued more than 50 billion credit loans to more than 30,000 trustworthy small and micro enterprises; the construction of a high-level international trade single window realizes "one-stop" processing of major international trade links, major transportation vehicles and commodities.
Efforts will be made to build the Sichuan Pilot Free Trade Zone as a leading area for the development and opening of the western gateway cities, and make every effort to promote the construction of a two-city economic circle in the Chengdu-Chongqing region. Deng Dexiong, deputy director of the Sichuan Free Trade Office, introduced that the "Air-Rail Combined Transport One Single System" document breaks the barriers between railway and air combined transportation, saving 10% to 40% of the transportation time compared to non-"air + railway" combined transportation logistics; the value-added tax is small The intelligent auxiliary declaration service for large-scale taxpayers has greatly reduced the burden of declaration, benefiting about 800,000 small and micro enterprises in the province.
"The Pilot Free Trade Zone focuses on institutional innovation and industrial development, constantly solving outstanding problems, and exploring realistic paths to optimize the business environment, which will bring profound and lasting benefits to economic and social development." Chief Economist of National Research Institute, Development of the State Council Zhao Jinping, former director of the Foreign Economic Research Department of the Research Center, said.
Copy and promote motivation
From the very beginning of the establishment of the Pilot Free Trade Zone, it was our responsibility to provide the country with reproducible and extendable experience. After years of bold ventures, bold trials, and independent reforms, we have not only "tested" policy innovations with small cuts and quick results, but also "brought through" the entire process and highly integrated system optimization, exploring new ways for deepening reforms throughout the country. It has injected new vitality into economic transformation and development.
In terms of promoting financial services to the real economy, the Pilot Free Trade Zone has further promoted reform and innovation in the financial sector, helping market players reduce costs and increase efficiency. For example, the Hainan Pilot Free Trade Zone is exploring "intellectual property securitization" to help companies use copyright and other intangible assets to raise funds. The Tianjin Pilot Free Trade Zone will pilot the “Innovation of Green Debt Financing Instruments” to build a bridge for cooperation between banks, government and enterprises, and effectively guide the flow of funds to green industries.
In terms of reducing corporate costs and promoting the resumption of work and production, several pilot free trade zones have introduced a combination of policies in terms of tax incentives, financial support, and rent reduction and exemption to meet the needs of corporate development. For example, the Henan Pilot Free Trade Zone organizes activities such as "Online Investment Promotion Week" and "Bank-Enterprise Matchmaking Meeting" to help companies connect resources and promote key projects and capital settlement. The Hubei Pilot Free Trade Zone has innovated the "Remote Confirmation Service Model for Equity Transfer Registration", accumulatively verifying corporate registration information for more than 3,000 corporate shareholders and executives from abroad or outside the province, saving nearly one million yuan in costs.
In terms of improving the level of government services and supervision, the Pilot Free Trade Zone focuses on the reform of “delegating control and services”, continuously improving the level of government governance, and driving the optimization of the business environment. For example, the Shaanxi Pilot Free Trade Zone used the "New Mechanism for Large-scale Airport Operation Coordination" to enhance the overall operation coordination capacity of the airport, which greatly increased the flight regularity rate.
Experts said that the reform experiment within the pilot free trade zone is organically connected with the replication and promotion outside the zone, forming a situation of sharing reform dividends and opening up results, promoting the continuous improvement of reform awareness, openness, administrative efficiency, development momentum, and economic vitality in various regions. Drive the continuous optimization of the national business environment.
Overcome difficulties and expand opening
"The original intention of China to establish a pilot free trade zone was to demonstrate an attitude of opening up to the world in all directions through independent opening up, as well as its determination to safeguard the liberalization and facilitation of investment and trade, and to build an open world economy." Chang Tang Wenhong previously stated publicly that in this special period, the pilot free trade zone will unswervingly take the lead in expanding opening up, and respond to the uncertainty of the world economic situation with the certainty of the opening of the pilot free trade zone. On the one hand, promote the resumption of work and production, restore and consolidate the supply chain, and help the re-operation of the global supply chain and the stability of the global economy. On the other hand, continue to reduce the negative list of foreign investment access, continue to optimize the business environment, and enhance global investor confidence. At the same time, it is the first to implement various policies for stabilizing foreign trade and foreign investment, fostering and expanding an export-oriented economy, and stimulating the vitality of market players.
The respective pilot trade zones have also worked hard to overcome difficulties in institutional innovation and optimizing the business environment to help the economy "recover blood." The Tianjin Pilot Free Trade Zone will speed up the introduction of new kinetic energy to better serve the coordinated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and the construction of the “Belt and Road”; the Hubei Pilot Free Trade Zone will continue to promote the resumption of work and production of enterprises, and further promote strategic emerging industries and The development of high-tech industries; Zhejiang Pilot Free Trade Zone will benchmark internationally advanced and build an international maritime service base; Chongqing and Sichuan Pilot Free Trade Zones will study and explore to play a demonstrative and leading role in promoting the construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing dual-city economic circle.
Zhao Beiwen, deputy director of the Institute of World Economics, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said that with the deterioration of the international economic and trade environment and the partial disruption of the global production and supply chain, China has steadily promoted the construction of free trade zones to further promote China’s import and export trade and two-way investment. Promoting world economic stability shows China's determination to continuously expand its opening up, willingness to share the dividends of economic globalization with other countries in the world, and demonstrate China's image as a responsible great power.