Free Trade Zones Gear Up
Sep 29-2020
China’s State Council recently released plans for pilot free trade zones in Beijing, Hunan, and Anhui as well as decided to expand the existing Zhejiang Free Trade Zone. Within seven years, the FTZs have covered 21 Chinese provinces. Prof. Yu Miaojie, Deputy Dean of the NSD, said that the rollout of FTZs bears witness to China’s comprehensive opening up and more reforms can be expected.
In a media commentary, Prof. Yu linked the development of the FTZs to China’s efforts to build new development patterns. The newly added pilot FTZs are well in line with the underlying logic of the 14th Five-Year Plan, which focuses on integrating industrialization, urbanization and agriculturalization to promote the concerted development of metropolitan areas. More precisely, the Beijing pilot FTZ shall form a free trade zone belt with neighboring Tianjin and Hebei; Anhui will join the Yangtze River Delta economic integration; and Hunan will dock with the Greater Bay Area of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao.
The Beijing FTZ stands out with service trade and digital economy, riding on the clusters of leading enterprises in the Chinese capital. Huanan Province, in central China, has been enjoying the trickling effect by hosting manufacturers relocating from the Greater Bay Area due to industrial re-structuring. Through the FTZ, it can do more to spur the development of the city clusters on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. The Anhui FTZ can not only welcome the relocation of manufacturers from Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang Province but also provide talented university graduates for the Yangtze River Delta.
Over the years, the FTZs have facilitated trade and investment through a number of measures such as negative lists and streamlined administration. Prof. Yu expects reforms to go deeper with regard to service trade and financial opening up.
