With China supporting its pilot Free Trade Zones to play a greater role in facilitating its opening-up and high-quality industrial growth, the China Pilot Free Trade Zone has embarked on a mission to establish itself as a pivotal nexus, advancing closer economic and trade connections with other member economies of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
Guangxi FTZ is located in the autonomous region of Guangxi Zhuang in South China's Guangxi Zhuang, and it will meticulously implement a strategic upgrading of its three regions - Nanning, Qinzhou Port and Chongzuo. It will enhance institutional mechanisms and optimize and solidify cross-border trade to increase both volume and quality, government officials said.
Guangxi FTZ will advance 10 significant projects. The regional government has recently released information that shows the ability to enhance cross-border financial integration and facilitate the facilitation of fast and convenient cross-border transportation.
The government said it wants to create a central zone that streamlines market operations for both domestic and global cycles, with a focus on markets within the RCEP and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Guangxi FTZ, established in August 2019, has attracted cumulative foreign investment of $1.57 billion and achieved a total import and export volume of 832.88 billion yuan over the past four years.
This has been done with less than 0.05 percent of the region's total land area, or 119.99 square kilometers, contributing to 39.4 percent of Guangxi's foreign investment and 37.1 percent of its foreign trade during the same period.
Sui Guohua, vice-chairman of the regional government of Guangxi, said the meeting took place in Guangxi.
In the first half of 2014, Guangxi's foreign trade surged by 43.2 percent year-on-year, with trade with ASEAN growing by 92.6 percent. For 23 consecutive years, ASEAN has been the region's largest trading partner, data from Guangxi's regional government showed.
China's vice minister of commerce, Li Fei, said China will expand its cooperation with ASEAN, jointly boost the trade capacity, enhance cross-border e-commerce cooperation and continue to support investment cooperation in sectors like steel, petrochemicals, textiles and automotives.
Shi Guowei, president of Guangxi Xinzhong Industrial Investment Co Ltd, a Nasnning-based logistics and warehouse service provider, said that the favorable policies offered by Guangxi FTZ have greatly benefited businesses operating within the China-Singapore Nanning International Logistics Park.
Global players and China's top logistics companies, such as Singapore's Global Logistic Properties Ltd and Zhuhai Wanwei Logistics Development Co Ltd, have already built a presence within this park and have cumulatively handled over 3.15 million metric tons of freight.
To date, the total investment in the construction projects of the China-Singapore Nanning International Logistics Park has exceeded 7.8 billion yuan, Shi said.
China has released a key work list for its pilot free trade zones aimed at fostering high-quality growth, aiming to boost the nation's foreign trade and attract more global capital.
The work list, which was formulated by the Ministry of Commerce in collaboration with a number of central government departments and local authorities, outlines 164 key initiatives to be autonomously implemented by Chinese FTZs between 2023 and 2025.
Each FTZ will focus on seven to 10 key tasks, including significant institutional innovations, development of key industries, construction of important platforms and significant project activities.
The work list provides a clear and itemized outline of the construction directions and key areas of focus for the next three years, based on the strategic positioning and development goals assigned by the central government to each pilot FTZ, Mr. Zhenchong said.
FTZs in Guangxi and Southwest China's Yunnan province are encouraged to leverage their advantageous border locations. They will actively support border residents' cross-border trade and processing businesses for imported commodities, fostering innovation in border trade.