Chinese FTZs make slew of breakthroughs

Following the 537 new measures introduced to Chinese free trade zones (FTZs) last year, some 120 institutional breakthroughs have been made in the areas of investment, trade, finance, supervision, industrial opening-up, resources allocation and cooperation among different FTZs, according to newly released 2023 China Free Trade Zone Development Report.

The report was unveiled by Cui Weijie, deputy director of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, during a forum held in Zhengzhou, Henan province, in early August.

Ever since the establishment of the Shanghai FTZ - the first of its kind in the country - in September 2013, another 20 FTZs have been set up in China, said Cui.

These FTZs accounted for 17.8 percent of the import and export value and 18.1 percent of the foreign direct investment realized in China last year. Notably, the foreign capital used for high-tech industries in these FTZs surged 53.2 percent year-on-year in 2022. This growth rate was much higher than the national average, he added.

According to the report, the FTZs in China have facilitated the country's opening-up and high-quality industrial development and served the country's major strategies such as the Belt and Road Initiative, the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region as well as the ecological protection and high-quality development along the Yellow River region.

The nine institutional breakthroughs made in the Qingdao FTZ last year, including the introduction of a new tax refund mode used at overseas warehouses of cross-border e-commerce platforms, allowing domestic freight to be paid in foreign exchanges, as well as the classification of marine assets, were highlighted in the report.