On January 19th, Guangdong issued the latest plan for upgrading the Guangdong Free Trade Zone. According to the plan, by 2025, the Guangdong FTZ aims to attract over 30,000 registered foreign-invested enterprises, with the actual utilization of foreign investment exceeding 70 billion US dollars and the total import and export volume surpassing 800 billion yuan.
(Photo: Nanfang Daily)
The plan proposes 20 detailed measures in six areas to comprehensively enhance the reform, openness, and innovative development of the Guangdong FTZ.
According to the plan, the Guangdong FTZ aims to become a high-level gateway and an essential platform for promoting high-level institutional openness in China.
Regarding openness, the Guangdong FTZ will conduct stress tests on manufacturing product imports and cross-border purchases of financial services to enhance its institutional openness. A negative list for cross-border service trade will be introduced to implement national opening measures for cross-border service trade in the Guangdong FTZ.
The plan is to explore cross-border data flow, supporting the construction of cross-border data flow infrastructure in the Nansha (Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao) Data Service Experimental Zone, Qianhai Comprehensive Bonded Zone, and Hengqin International Data Coordinated Development Cluster.
Regarding modern industrial systems, the plan includes pilot initiatives to facilitate the free flow of scientific research materials across borders and import supplies for biomedical research and development. It also aims to promote the development of high-end equipment manufacturing, such as large-scale port machinery and deep-water channel construction projects. In addition, the plan seeks to cultivate and strengthen strategic emerging industries such as integrated circuits and biomedical medicine.
The plan will also strengthen cooperation with the Guangdong-Hainan regional cooperation platform and accelerate the development of linked areas in the Guangdong FTZ.
