Recently, the People's Government of Guangdong Province approved the establishment of Coordinated Development Areas of China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone (GDFTZ) in 13 cities, namely, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou, Foshan, Shaoguan, Huizhou, Shanwei, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Yangjiang, Zhanjiang, and Maoming. This is a key measure to better facilitate the development of surrounding areas of GDFTZ and foster coordinated development between regions in Guangdong.
Guangdong is extending the innovative results of GDFTZ to more cities
"Since its establishment in 2015, GDFTZ has achieved fruitful results in leading high-quality development based on institutional innovations, including a total of 584 institutional innovation results, 41 of which have been replicated nationwide and 146 across the province. GDFTZ is leading among all pilot free trade zones in China in terms of many economic indicators, with an annual tax revenue exceeding RMB 100 billion, foreign trade volume of nearly RMB 2 trillion, and realized foreign direct investment exceeding RMB 55 billion," said Mr. Zhang Jingsong, Head of the Commerce Department of Guangdong and Director of the GDFTZ Office, at a meeting.
Mr. Zhang said that Guangdong will intensify efforts to advance the development of Coordinated Development Areas of GDFTZ. Through "coordinated experiments, collaborative innovation, and resource sharing" between the coordinated development areas and the GDFTZ, the innovative practices and achievements of the free trade zone will be replicated in other cities to deliver more fruitful results, inject new vitality into local innovation and development, expand new space for reform and innovation, and explore new pathways for the province's coordinated development.
How to Build Coordinated Development Areas? Mr. Zhang pointed out that the general principle is to pursue high-quality development with institutional innovation as a focus and open cooperation as the driving force to spur the coordinated development between the Coordinated Development Areas and GDFTZ in terms of policy, industry, and innovation. Some best practices of GDFTZ will be first replicated, collaborative innovation projects will be carried out, and a group of high-level open platforms will be cultivated. The aim is to develop the Coordinated Development Areas into centers for reform and innovation throughout the province, demonstration zones for high-quality development, and new drivers for regional economic development in two or three years. As a result, the cities where the Coordinated Development Areas are located will share the GDFTZ reform benefits and enhance regional economic competitiveness.
The primary task of building Coordinated Development Areas is to replicate the sound reform and innovation practices of GDFTZ. The Commerce Department of Guangdong, together with departments directly under the provincial government and departments directly under the CPC Central Committee, has reviewed 62 reform and innovation practices to be replicated first in the Coordinated Development Areas, covering the four fields of investment facilitation, trade facilitation, financial innovation, and legal services, and has worked out a city-specific list of practices to be promoted. According to the review results, the number of reform and innovation practices to be replicated in each city and Coordinated Development Areas is as follows: Coordinated Development Areas: 58; Shenzhen: 56, Zhuhai: 59, Shantou: 51, Foshan: 54, Shaoguan: 38, Huizhou: 48, Shanwei: 35, Dongguan: 37, Zhongshan: 50, Yangjiang: 43, Zhanjiang: 44, and Maoming: 49.
GDFTZ Qianhai & Shekou Area of Shenzhen will explore integrated development with the Shenzhen Coordinated Development Area
In the Shenzhen Coordinated Development Area, the Qianhai area prioritizes the development of high-end services such as finance, marine, digital & fashion, cultural tourism, exhibition, trade, and logistics, as well as advanced manufacturing such as laser and additive manufacturing, intelligent equipment, UHD display, broadband networks and communications; the Yantian area focuses on the R&D and manufacturing in marine economy, high-end medical equipment and healthcare industry clusters, as well as the construction of a port-based national logistics hub, the "high-end manufacturing + comprehensive service industry" cluster in the Yantian Comprehensive Bonded Zone, and the Core Sha Tau Kok Cross-Border Duty-free Shopping Area, etc.; the Pingshan area places emphasis on strategic industrial clusters such as biomedicine & healthcare, semiconductor & integrated circuits, and intelligent terminals, with an aim to become an international biomedical sci-tech city and an international demonstration center for new industrialization.
How to promote sound reform practices, and drive coordinated institutional innovation and coordinated industrial development in the Coordinated Development Areas? Mr. Yuan Fuyong, Deputy Director of the Management Committee of GDFTZ Qianhai & Shekou Area of Shenzhen, emphasized that the Qianhai & Shekou Area will actively explore a new development model featuring "coordinated experiments, collaborative innovation, and resource sharing" together with the Coordinated Development Area and will play a leading role in facilitating open cooperation to drive the high-quality development of the Coordinated Development Area.
It has been reported that, in 2021, the Qianhai & Shekou Area registered a tax revenue of more than RMB 64 billion, a year-on-year increase of 14.4%, and realized foreign direct investment of USD 5.4 billion, up 16.8% from a year earlier; the Qianhai Comprehensive Bonded Zone recorded an import and export volume of RMB 158.1 billion, an 8% increase, maintaining strong growth momentum.
(Source: Shenzhen Special Zone Daily)