General

In the first quarter of this year, foreign trade and foreign investment in the pilot free trade zones achieved rapid growth. The import and export volume of the 21 pilot free trade zones reached 1.8 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.6%, which is 1.8 percentage points higher than the national level. At a regular press conference held by the Ministry of Commerce on May 11th, spokesperson Shu Jueting stated that building the pilot free trade zone is an important strategic measure of the Party Central Committee to promote reform and opening up in the new era. For a long time, the pilot free trade zone has fully utilized its advantages of being a first mover and first mover. While implementing various policies and measures to stabilize foreign trade and foreign investment at the central and local levels with high quality, it actively explores new ideas to stabilize foreign trade and foreign investment, strives to cultivate new growth drivers, and contributes to the stable development of foreign trade and foreign investment nationwide. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report.

According to Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation, the exports of 21 pilot free trade zones in the first quarter of this year reached 794.9 billion yuan, an increase of 8.5%; Import reached 1036.3 billion yuan, an increase of 5.2%. The actual use of foreign investment was 71.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.1%, 17.2 percentage points higher than the national average. The total import and export volume and actual use of foreign investment in the pilot free trade zone account for 19.4% and 18.1% of the 21 provinces (districts, cities), respectively. The pilot free trade zone has achieved high growth in import and export, while mainly playing a stabilizing role in foreign trade and foreign investment from all directions. Specifically, Shu Jueting introduced that the first is to strengthen institutional innovation and empower development. The pilot free trade zone adheres to institutional innovation as the fundamental driving force, continues to promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and the synergistic effect of various measures is increasingly evident. For example, the Guangdong Pilot Free Trade Zone implements paperless application for RCEP origin visas, and exports of express and perishable goods are released within 6 hours. The Zhejiang Pilot Free Trade Zone promotes institutional innovations such as the "shared storage of bonded and non bonded oil and gas products in the same tank" and the "multiple functions in one warehouse" for export supervision warehouses. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report.

The second is to focus on key industries to promote development. The pilot free trade zone will implement precise policies to promote the development of advantageous industries and effectively promote the development of export-oriented industries. For example, the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone has deeply implemented the "Global Operator Plan" to support headquarters enterprises to overlay new trade, fund management and other composite functions. The Jiangsu Pilot Free Trade Zone has deployed and implemented over 90 key R&D projects and 49 major scientific and technological achievement transformation projects, with over 3500 high-tech enterprises gathering in the zone. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report.

The third is to provide precise services to ensure development. Multiple pilot free trade zones have established a "white list" and service ledger for foreign trade and foreign investment enterprises, strengthening production and operation service guarantees. The Tianjin Pilot Free Trade Zone has explored cross-border facilitation measures for talents and introduced the first batch of overseas vocational qualification recognition catalogs. Liaoning has introduced 22 measures to support the high-quality development of free trade pilot zones through financial support. The Beijing Pilot Free Trade Zone expanded the coverage of export credit insurance to protect small foreign trade enterprises.

The fourth is to facilitate the development of logistics channels and services. The pilot free trade zone actively strengthens international logistics accessibility, innovatively promotes convenient logistics, transportation, and customs clearance, and serves the development of an export-oriented economy. Shanghai, Anhui and other pilot free trade zones have jointly carried out the "Integrated Reform of Special Goods Inspection Operations at the Yangtze River Delta Customs", significantly reducing the time for cross-border trade clearance. Yunnan, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Guangxi, Hunan, Chongqing and other pilot free trade zones cooperate with local railway bureaus to promote the "one order system" of China Laos railway multimodal transport and promote the smooth flow of domestic and international logistics. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the construction of the Pilot Free Trade Zone. The Ministry of Commerce will hold a series of activities to help domestic and foreign enterprises better understand the innovative measures of the Pilot Free Trade Zone and jointly seize new development opportunities.