The implementation of a National Development Document in Guangdong province has yielded fruitful results in various sectors, including customs clearance facilitation for imported goods, entry and exit facilitation for persons, the opening of foreign-funded financial institutions, and the practice of foreign professionals, according to notes recently released by the Guangdong Provincial Department of Commerce.
Last June, China issued measures to pilot international high standards and promote institutional opening-up in some eligible free trade zones and the Hainan Free Trade Port. These measures aim to promote the innovative development of goods trade and facilitate the temporary entry of business personnel.
In response, Guangdong defined 33 applicable pilot tasks and achieved a considerable scale of business volume.
In terms of goods trade, the volume of conveniently imported goods has increased by 68.8 billion yuan, benefiting 3,500 enterprises. In cross-border finance, the pilot program for cross-border wealth management has seen a combined total of over 3,300 products, with fund transfers of 50.7 billion yuan, covering 110,000 individual investors. Regarding the practice of foreign professionals, more than 100 types of overseas professional qualifications have been recognized.
In terms of personnel mobility, 6,088 Business Visas (M-Visa) and Visit Visas (F-Visa) have been issued, a 220% increase compared to the previous year.
Based on these achievements, Guangdong province plans to further implement its strategic planning in trade and economics, mechanism innovation, and policy design targeting certain industries and areas. In the future, Guangdong aims to align more closely with international high-standard trade and economic rules, promoting institutional openness by exploring all feasible options to deepen overall openness.
Targeting specific industries, Guangdong will design policies focusing on pioneering and differentiated exploration to facilitate the high-quality development of the Free Trade Zone. Alongside economic and trade development, Guangdong will also improve the systematic and integrated innovation of mechanisms and institutions, in accordance with the “1+N+X” policy framework for implementing the Free Trade Pilot Zone Enhancement Strategy.
