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E-mail China.org.cn, April 19, 2024
Chen Wenjun:
Due to time constraints, we only have time for two more questions.
Yicai:
The China (Tianjin) Pilot Free Trade Zone is about to celebrate its ninth anniversary. Could you please elaborate on the breakthroughs and achievements made by the zone over the past nine years? Also, what are the new deployments to further advance institutional high-level opening-up and to strengthen industries? Thank you.
Liu Guiping:
Thank you for your question and your attention to the China (Tianjin) Pilot Free Trade Zone . The zone is among the second batch of China’s pilot free trade zones and the first of its kind in north China. In the past nine years since its establishment, we have strictly followed the intention of the country to establish the zone, focusing on building institutional highlands rather than “policy depressions” that simply rely on policy incentives to attract investment and enterprises and exploring successful institutional practices that could be replicated in other parts of China . We have always adhered to testing institutions for the country and seeking development for the region, firmly grasped the core task of institutional innovation and continuously launched a series of innovative achievements, effectively stimulating market innovation vitality and promoting the high-quality economic and social development of the city. So far, the zone has implemented a total of 615 institutional innovation measures, of which 42 leading and iconic innovation achievements have been replicated and promoted nationwide. For example, Tianjin's industries such as financial leasing, commercial factoring, parallel importing of cars and bonded maintenance rank among the top in the country. Our financial leasing, especially aircraft leasing business, ranks second globally, and the premium of our commercial factoring business accounts for 30% of the country's total. Now, the zone has 88,000 business entities of various types with an average annual actual utilization of foreign capital exceeding $2 billion and an average annual import and export volume exceeding 200 billion yuan. With only 1% of the city's land area, it contributes 30% of the city's foreign trade and 40% of the actual utilization of foreign capital, effectively playing the role of a "testing ground" for reform and opening up.
The next step in the zone will be to strictly implement arrangements made by the CPC Central Committee and follow the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping to further improve and solidify the institutional innovation of the zone and to further test institutions for the country. There are several main considerations:
First, we will advance institutional opening-up to meet high standards. Aligning with international benchmarks, we plan to prioritize key sectors such as trade, investment, finance, intellectual property rights, and environmental protection. We will further promote the pilot programs of institutional opening-up, aiming to establish a robust system and regulatory framework aligned with high-level institutional opening-up. We will explore innovations in cross-border data flow regulations, pioneering the implementation of standardized classification and grading criteria for enterprise data within a free trade zone. Tianjin's successful practices, combined with practical application scenarios, are expected to be steadily promoted and replicated across the country.
Second, we will attract and cultivate advantageous industries with high-level capabilities. We will fully implement the "negative list + pre-establishment national treatment" policy, develop "bonded+", and leverage the advantages of ports, logistics and industries. We will effectively implement the bonded maintenance policy for tax-exempt imported goods, which will be repaired under bonded status and then re-exported. Additionally, we will launch pilot projects for bonded remanufacturing of automotive parts, and continuously deepen the construction of the "five major bonded centers." We will develop "finance+" initiatives, continually burnishing the image of financial services such as financial leasing, commercial factoring and free-trade accounts. We will vigorously promote "digital+", advancing cross-border data flow and expanding platform economy industry clusters, such as cross-border e-commerce and online freight. We will further develop "trade+" initiatives, continuously strengthening business formats such as automobile import and export, cold chain logistics and service trade.
Third, we will act to promote the high-quality upgrading of the free trade zone. We plan to intensify efforts in institutional innovation, bolster the nurturing of promising sectors, leverage the combined advantages of policies related to the free trade zone, the opening-up of the service sector, and comprehensive bonded zones. Focusing on enhancing national strategic capabilities, elevating our platform's level for opening-up, and improving the quality and efficacy of institutional innovations, we will expedite the launch of enhancement action plans for the free trade zone, actively driving the implementation of new institutional innovation measures such as healthcare and financial opening-up.
We have confidence that under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, Tianjin FTZ will fulfill its predetermined objectives in this new historical phase. Through its own explorations, the free trade zone will undoubtedly facilitate Tianjin's reform and opening-up more effectively. This will contribute significantly to Tianjin's economic and social development, adding a significant stroke to the composition of the "Tianjin Chapter" of Chinese modernization. Thank you.
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