On September 17, the News Office of the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality held a press conference to provide updates on the first anniversary of the development of the “Two Zones.” Over the past year, Beijing has accelerated the implementation of the 251 tasks of the “Two Zones” development plan approved by the State Council, and 207 have been carried out so far. Meanwhile, guided by the construction goal of the “Two Zones,” Beijing has made progress in the following seven areas.
First, foreign investment access restrictions have been further relaxed. China’s first wholly foreign-owned money market broker Ueda Yagi Money Broking (China) Co., Ltd, first wholly foreign-owned insurance asset management company Allianz Insurance Asset Management Co., Ltd, and the first wholly foreign-owned licensed holding payment institution have received approval to begin conducting business. The construction of China’s first international research hospital has started. Deloitte University has entered China and launched in Beijing. Schneider Electric (China) Software R&D Center and Apple Search Ads have landed in Beijing successively.
Second, progress has been made in trade facilitation. Beijing supports the development of new trade and business models by launching China’s first pilot for integrating “duty-free, bonded, and cross-border e-commerce” policies. With the pioneering “Beijing model” of cross-border e-commerce for importing drugs and medical devices, Beijing has expanded the scope of pharmaceutical products and obtained the first cross-border pharmaceutical e-commerce qualification for third-party logistics and warehousing services in China. The sales of the pilot project of the first half of 2021 doubled its total of 2020. To increase the capacity of cargo support, the city has accelerated the construction of the “double hubs” of Beijing Capital International Airport and Beijing Daxing International Airport. The first all-cargo route under the fifth freedom traffic right has been put into operation, which has strengthened the cargo connection between Asian and North American markets significantly. Beijing has pushed forward the trade digitization by launching a “single window” blockchain-based smart document management system for international trade and building a blockchain data asset security safe, which has helped realize the online sharing of logistics data of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei port.
Third, cross-border financing has been made smoother. Beijing has launched a pilot program to transfer shares of equity investment and venture capital to provide a market-oriented exit strategy for high-quality funds. The RMB international investment and loan fund was approved. The pilot programs of integrated capital pools of domestic and foreign currencies for multinational companies and an all-in-one domestic and foreign currency bank account broke ground. The reform on external debt facilitation has been deepened with the pilot quota increased to $10 million and QDLP (Pilot Work of Overseas Investment of Qualified Domestic Limited Partners) quota increased to $10 billion. The pilot programs of facilitating foreign exchange and capital account receipts and payments have been carried out, and the total amount of pilot transactions has exceeded $77 billion. In addition, Beijing has also taken the lead in upgrading the pilot project of facilitating cross-border RMB settlement for high-quality and high-integrity international contractors.
Fourth, talent recruitment and support have been enhanced. Nealy 100 individuals from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and foreign countries have participated in 35 vocational qualification exams for overseas personnel. Beijing has taken the lead in setting up a mechanism for the recognition of past qualifications of foreign professionals from the futures and securities industry by launching the first recognition directory for 82 overseas professional qualifications. In addition to the above mechanisms, the city has also explored a recommendation-based talent acquisition model. Beijing has allowed overseas personnel to start and invest in domestically funded companies with their foreign permanent resident ID cards. A one-stop service window for foreign talents has been set up to handle their work permits and residence permits simultaneously, shortening the processing time by 1/3 and reducing the visits to only once. Meanwhile, the building of an international talent community has been speeded up. Nineteen international schools have been under construction and the real-time settlement of international health insurance in international hospitals has been carried out.
Fifth, data resources have been gathered on a larger scale. In terms of government services, Beijing has gathered 24.7 billion pieces of data in 2264 categories from 57 municipal government departments and agencies to support 132 applications including COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control. In terms of social and public services, the city has gathered 89.8 billion pieces of data in 107 categories to support 32 applications including the planning of urban spaces. Besides, the city has also established the Beijing International Big Data Exchange and the Beijing International Data Transaction Alliance to connect to the Beijing government data website and carry out data transaction verification through multiple technical channels.
Sixth, the business environment has been further optimized. The Supreme People’s Court has issued guidance opinions on providing judicial services and guarantees for the construction of the “Two Zones” to help create a legalized business environment. Beijing has implemented a notification-commitment system with 28 certificates issued in two batches. The city has also explored a new model of land development, which means a developer is now able to begin construction immediately after obtaining a land development permit. Xiaomi Smart Factory Phase II and SF North China smart logistic headquarter projects have been smoothly implemented. So far, a total of 57 government services have been handled based on uniform standards at pilot free trade zones in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei. The “blockchain + digital certificate” government service model and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei standardized cooperation model have been included in the best practice cases to be promoted and replicated nationwide.
Seventh, Beijing has taken a further step in playing an exemplary role. Over the past year since the commencement of “Two Zones,” Beijing has released a total of 90 supporting policy papers, implemented 34 pioneering policies, launched 49 first-of-its-kind or landmark projects either nationwide or citywide, and established 38 functional service platforms. In addition, the Ministry of Commerce has proposed to promote and replicate Beijing’s top 10 innovative cases of construction of a comprehensive demonstration zone for the expansion and opening of the national service industry across the country; the city has proposed to promote and replicate 24 best practice cases across the city.
(Reporter: Ma Jing)
