Belt & Road forum set stage for Hengqin FTZ summit

Free Trade Zone (Hengqin) Summit 2017, themed The Development Trend of Chinese Free Trade Zones, will take place on June 19 and 20, it was announced by the Hengqin New Area Administrative Committee on June 8.

Representatives from 11 Chinese pilot and more than 20 international free trade zones will discuss policy research, world trade and logistics, economic planning, and financial capital.

In addition, experts from research institutions and representatives from investment enterprises will share in-depth views on free trade development and prospects of the Chinese pilot zones.

Graham Mather, chairman of the World Free Zone Convention; Alvaro Valverde Palavicini, executive director of the Association of Free Trade Zones of Costa Rica; and Julien Laurent Chaisse, chairman of the Centre for Financial Regulation & Economic Development of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, will deliver speeches at the summit.

Summit will address The Development Trend of Chinese Free Trade Zones. [Photo courtesy www.rtmworld.com]

The summit is sponsored by the World Free Zone Convention under the guidance of the General Affairs Office of China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone, to which the Hengqin FTZ belongs.

On May 14 and 15, the Belt & Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing nailed down 12 agreements, helping map a high-standard global FTZ network.

Participants also include delegates of the World Customs Organization, Organization for Economic Co-operation & Development, and International Association of Ports & Harbors, plus FTZ leaders and global top 500 enterprises representatives from the UK, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, Iran, and other countries.

Chinese FTZs are playing an increasingly important role among more than 3,000 pilot free trade zones worldwide as a result of the country's economic growth and success of the Belt & Road forum, claimed spokesperson Li Guanglian.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Chinese pilot free trade zones need to demonstrate what they have achieved and promote their development concepts, he added.