Since the official launch of the Integrated National Demonstration Zone for Opening up the Services Sector and the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone (the "two zones") three years ago, Beijing has been actively aligning with international high-standard trade rules and steadily expanding institutional opening-up. Fruitful results have been produced, with nearly 500 measures rolled out in over 10 special reform programs, 40 innovation practices replicated nationwide, and about 50 groundbreaking policies first piloted in the city. As of now, 98% of the 251 tasks approved by the State Council for the "two zones" development have been implemented, making the "two zones" a new pacesetter for high-standard opening-up of the service sector.
This May, the State Council approved the establishment of Zhongguancun Comprehensive Bonded Zone, China's first-ever comprehensive bonded zone featuring R&D and innovation. Focusing on R&D, it will establish a spectrum of bonded business based on an "2+2+N" industrial framework, with a view to enhancing innovation efficiency. To date, 60 projects are set to be introduced to the zone, with an additional 53 in reserve.
"Transactions of goods entering and exiting the bonded zone can be settled in either yuan or foreign currencies. Processing and manufacturing enterprises based in the zone can utilize their surplus capacity to undertake outsourced processing orders within China. Eligible goods will be subject to simplified administration for entry and exit. Newly-established enterprises specializing in R&D, design, processing, and manufacturing, if assessed to meet the prescribed standards, will be directly granted the highest credit rating," said Gao Jing, deputy head of Zhongguancun Customs. With integrated circuits and pharmaceutical and health industries as the core, and artificial intelligence and technology service industries as the priorities, there will be more forms of bonded services, such as headquarters economy, cross-border e-commerce, financial leasing, and high-end software service outsourcing.
In pursuit of differentiated development, Beijing has designated 20 key parks (clusters) in the "two zones", creating a holistic system encompassing free trade clusters, comprehensive bonded zones, and parks with distinctive features. These efforts have resulted in differentiated yet complementary development of the parks (clusters). For example, Tianzhu Comprehensive Bonded Zone has implemented pilot initiatives such as tax concessions on aircraft engine customs clearance, and "inspection after entry" for artworks to be exhibited. Daxing International Airport Comprehensive Bonded Zone has pioneered an integrated model for port management, which features “one system, one tally, one inspection, and one-off delivery”.
"Over the past three years, we have added 1,735 new projects in the 'two zones', including 439 foreign-funded ones," said Hei Yu, Deputy Director of the Haidian District Bureau of Commerce. Since the launch of the "two zones", Haidian has been enhancing its business environment, expanding opening-up, and fully integrating into the global innovation economy, with numerous landmark results. The dual drivers of sci-tech innovation and institutional innovation have created an industrial eco-system bursting with vitality. The positioning and goals of the "two zones" development in Haidian District have been largely realized.
Tang Ling, Secretary of the CPC Committee of Lakala Payment Co., Ltd., told reporters that Haidian District has established a digital currency pilot zone as part of the "two zones" development. As one of the first two payment institutions to sign a strategic cooperation agreement with the Digital Currency Research Institute of the People’s Bank of China, Lakala has been fully engaged in promoting the adoption of digital yuan in the pilot cities. Furthermore, the "two zones" policies have provided comprehensive support to Lakala in recruiting technology talents. Witnessing steady growth in its cross-border foreign currency settlement business, the company has established an extensive cross-border payment network spanning over 100 countries.
An official from the "Two Zones" Leading Group Office stated that the development of the "two zones" is an important part of Beijing's efforts to incorporate the Five Key Initiatives into the new development dynamic. Over the past three years, Beijing has capitalized on the opportunities presented by the "two zones" policy, aligned with international high-standard trade rules, and steadily expanded the institutional opening-up. Significant progress has been made in institutional innovation, industrial parks’ development, and project implementation.
Over the past three years, Beijing has scaled new heights in building a high-standard system for opening up the service sector. By focusing on key elements, the city has leveraged individual projects to spur breakthroughs in a wide range of areas. It is the national pioneer to pilot intellectual property insurance and legal expenses insurance for overseas intellectual property disputes. It has also explored fast-track registration process for confidential examination to expedite the international patent filing for innovative drugs. IPR work has been delegated to lower levels and other institutions through the establishment of IPR sub-centers and the Beijing RCEP Intellectual Property Rights Public Service Platform. The Regulations of Beijing Municipality on the Registration of Data Intellectual Property Rights was adopted to provide data intellectual property with "ID documents".
Beijing has pioneered several high-value policies in key industries and special fields, including income tax concessions for technology transfer, instant approval for certification of high-tech enterprises upon registration, and income tax incentives for corporate venture capital firms. The city has also introduced a series of policies and measures to support the development of foreign-funded R&D centers. Pilot programs in the medical sector, such as the "white list" for importing biomedical R&D articles and the "human genetic resources management commissioner", have been launched to provide policy support for pharmaceutical innovation and clinical application of cutting-edge drugs. Over the past three years, Beijing has seen the approval of 13 innovative drugs and 59 Class III innovative medical devices.
Statistics show that over the past three years, nearly 19,000 projects have been added to the "two zones" project pool. Among them, more than 12,000 projects have been successfully implemented, with a total investment of around 2.3 trillion yuan. Since 2020, the actual use of foreign investment in Beijing has reached 55.9 billion dollars, accounting for nearly 9% of the national total. Notably, the service sector constitutes over 90% of this share, indicating a more open economy.
