Since the Regulations on China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone and Decision of the Standing Committee of Beijing Municipal People’s Congress on Facilitating the Development of the Integrated National Demonstration Zone for Opening up the Services Sector (hereinafter referred to as the “Regulations and Decision”) were implemented over one year ago, sound momentum has been injected into a new round of reform and the upgrading of the “two zones” policy to version 2.0. On November 23, the 6th session of the Standing Committee of the 16th Beijing Municipal People’s Congress deliberated on the report on the implementation of the Regulations and Decision presented by the law enforcement inspection team.
The Regulations and Decision consist of 68 provisions and 16 clauses respectively, offering legislative guarantee to the “two zones”. According to the written report submitted for deliberation by the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau, these provisions and clauses have been fully implemented, and over 200 supporting documents have been issued. Notably, Beijing has achieved remarkable progress in opening up the city’s most competitive industries in the services sector, such as technological innovation, digital economy, and financial services. Additionally, a number of landmark projects have been launched in Beijing, including the first wholly foreign-owned futures company, securities company, and insurance broker in China. Municipal-level administrative powers such as issuing permits for establishing foreign-funded travel agencies and adjudicating patent infringement disputes have been delegated to lower-level authorities, providing robust support for Beijing’s high-quality development.
The law enforcement inspection team of the Standing Committee decided that the Regulations and Decision have received positive responses from governments at all levels and from business entities. A series of supporting systems and plans in various aspects such as technological innovation, opening-up of the services sector, the digital economy, and coordinated opening-up in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, have effectively driven a new-round reform and the upgrading of “two zones” policy to version 2.0.
“Advancing institutional opening-up requires deepening reforms.” While acknowledging achievements, the law enforcement inspection team emphasized the need to intensify efforts in promoting institutional opening-up. Some municipal-level departments fall short in providing guidance and support after delegating powers. For example, certain community-level departments and organizations tend to wait for detailed rules instead of taking actions when problems arise. Moreover, the mechanism for stimulating institutional innovation needs improvement, and the commitment to municipal-level reform vary among departments involved in the development of the “two zones”. Institutional barriers still hinder some precincts in leveraging the role of the market and other channels to enhance their operational and service capabilities.
To address these issues, the law enforcement inspection team recommended that all departments, districts, and clusters fully utilize the benefits of the rule of law brought by the Regulations and Decision. The aim is to roll out more systemic and unified policies, laws, regulations, systems, procedures, and standards, as well as to enhance their transparency and consistency. Both municipal and district-level governments, along with other competent authorities, should focus on optimizing the business environment, and promoting and retaining investment. Efforts should also be made to better the service for the launch and operation of major projects, improve the “service packages” and “steward services” for enterprises, and enhance performance evaluation and safety management for important policies. Furthermore, precincts of the free trade zone will be encouraged to formulate targeted industrial promotion policies based on their own strengths, so as to attract more business entities, especially foreign-funded enterprises, in the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone.
