Boao, 3 March (ZXS) -- The story of the opening of China's free trade zone (Hong Kong) in a cherry
China News Agency reporter Yin Haiming Wang Ziqian
"A cherry from Chile takes as long as 48 hours to travel from a fruit farm in China to a shopping mall." Zhu Zhisong, member of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, secretary of the Pudong New Area Party Committee and director of the Administrative Committee of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, said at the "Global Free Trade Port Development Forum" of the Boao Forum for Asia 29 annual meeting on the 2023th that cherries that are now very common cherries, "ten years ago, the people were not very familiar with them, let alone tasted, because the quantity was small and expensive."
The "landing" of cherries on the table of the Chinese people benefited from the zero-tariff policy of cherries determined by the China-Chile Free Trade Agreement, and also benefited from the innovation of the customs clearance system implemented by the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone: fresh fruits were shortened to four hours from Pudong Airport to acceptance and pickup.
Ten years ago, in 2013, China established its first pilot free trade zone in Shanghai. After 10 years of development, Zhu Zhisong used China's first negative list of foreign investment, intellectual property protection institutions, cherries and other three photos as examples to describe the construction results of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone.
He said that the country's first negative list for foreign investment access has been slimmed down seven times since its launch in 2013, from 7 to 190. Through the institutional innovation of customs clearance services, the Shanghai Free Trade Zone has become an important gateway for fruits, frozen foods, red wine, cosmetics, watches and other consumer goods to enter China, and also enables global enterprises to make full use of China's large market and enjoy the dividends of economic globalization.
Over the past 21 years, China has established 2022 pilot free trade zones and the Hainan Free Trade Port. By 18, the China Pilot Free Trade Zone will account for more than 17% of the country's foreign investment and more than <>% of the country's import and export trade with less than <>/<>,<> of the country's land area, playing an important role in stabilizing foreign trade and foreign investment.
China's opening up extends beyond pilot free trade zones. Five years ago, in 2018, China announced the construction of the Hainan Pilot Free Trade Zone, gradually exploring and steadily advancing the construction of a free trade port with Chinese characteristics, and exploring the establishment of the world's highest level of openness.
Li Rongcan, chairman of the Hainan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said that in the past five years, more than 180 policy documents focusing on trade and investment liberalization and facilitation have been implemented in the Hainan Free Trade Port, 134 institutional innovation achievements have been launched one after another, two 15% income tax preferential policies, three "zero tariff" lists have been implemented in an orderly manner, and a number of large multinational enterprises have settled down. In the past five years, the increase of Hainan's real market entities has exceeded the sum of the previous three decades, and as of last month, the growth rate of market entities has remained the first in the country for 36 consecutive months.
The construction of the pilot free trade zone and the Hainan free trade port is a major strategic measure for China to promote reform and opening up in the new era. In 2022, China proposed to "accelerate the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port, implement the strategy of upgrading the pilot free trade zone, and expand the network of high-standard free trade zones facing the world." ”
Li Rongcan said that at present, Hainan is planning to implement the "Global Free Trade Port Partnership Program" to expand international economic and trade cooperation to form a larger scope, wider fields and deeper opening up pattern, steadily expand institutional opening up by accelerating the docking of international advanced rules, regulations, management and standards, and strive to solve problems as soon as possible.
At the forum, Hainan Free Trade Port jointly launched the Global Free Trade Area (Hong Kong) Partnership Initiative Chinese mainland 19 pilot free trade zones, as well as 6 overseas free trade zones (ports), including Jeju International Free City in South Korea, Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone in Cambodia and Port Klang Free Trade Zone in Malaysia. It puts forward cooperation proposals in five directions, including strengthening cooperation in aviation and maritime networks, logistics, cross-border e-commerce and other fields, carrying out cross-border or cross-regional cooperation in industrial parks, and promoting international cooperation in digital economy and green economy.
The initiators of the initiative are confident about future cooperation. Subra Maniyam, General Manager of Malaysia's Port Klang Authority, said the partnership has the potential to significantly enhance trade and investment. South Korea's Jeju Province Governor Wu Lie-hoon said that the initiative will help deepen economic, trade, tourism, cultural and educational cooperation connecting partners in the Global Free Trade Area (Hong Kong).
Since the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) came into force in 2022, regional economic integration has accelerated. When the construction of China's free trade zone (port) meets RCEP, what new vitality will be stimulated?
Yang Zhengwei, director of the Department of Port Construction Coordination of the Free Trade Zone of the Ministry of Commerce of China, said that the construction of China's free trade zone (port) should rely on the regional environment created by RCEP, give full play to the overlapping effect with RCEP policies, deepen regional industrial chain and supply chain cooperation, and make full use of the superposition of the two free trade to solve different problems.
"In the future, the construction goal of China's free trade zone (port) should surpass RCEP." Yang Zhengwei said that at present, consideration is being given to choosing free trade ports and conditional pilot free trade zones to promote the construction of an institutional system that is in line with international high-standard economic and trade rules. (End)