BEIJING, January 15 (Xinhua) -- Beijing was among the first batch of pilot cities in China approved to expand opening-up in such sectors as value-added telecommunications and healthcare. The capital witnessed the establishment of the country’s first foreign-funded enterprise specializing in “human genetic diagnosis and gene therapy”. Additionally, it released the nation’s first scenario-based and field-level negative list for outbound data flow of companies in the pilot free trade zone, and initiated the construction of the country’s first pilot zone for the special provision of rare disease drugs.
The above-mentioned information was obtained on January 15 from a press conference themed “Deepening Reform to Promote Development”, which was held at the press center of the Third Session of the Sixteenth Beijing Municipal People’s Congress.
Lu Huiling, Deputy Director-General and Spokesperson of the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau, elaborated on how the Bureau, in collaboration with competent municipal authorities and districts, advanced the high-standard opening-up of the capital through the “two zones” development in 2024.
A Series of Pioneering Policies Released
Beijing made headway in institutional opening-up by benchmarking against high-standard international economic and trade rules. The city accelerated the implementation of the version 2.0 of its plan to build the national comprehensive demonstration zone for expanding opening-up in the service sector approved by the State Council, accomplishing over 80% of the tasks within just one year. Additionally, it implemented relevant measures to align its pilot free trade zone with high international standards to further promote institutional opening-up.
Beijing rolled out a series of pioneering policies. It was among the first batch of pilot cities nationwide to be approved for expanding opening-up in sectors such as value-added telecommunications and healthcare. The capital witnessed the establishment of the country’s first foreign-funded enterprise specializing in “human genetic diagnosis and gene therapy”. Additionally, Beijing released the nation’s first scenario-based and field-level negative list for outbound data flow of companies in the pilot free trade zone, as well as the first Catalogue of Recognized International Professional Qualifications. The construction of the country’s first pilot zone for the special provision of rare disease drugs was also initiated. Moreover, it established a rapid review and approval model with Beijing characteristics for clinically and urgently needed imported drugs and medical devices, and pioneered real estate trust property registration.
Since the launch of the “two zones” initiative, Beijing has implemented over 120 groundbreaking policies, nearly 60 of which are the first of their kind in the country. For three consecutive years, Beijing has ranked first in the overall evaluation of pilot and demonstration areas for greater openness in the service sector nationwide.
A Total of 1,777 Foreign-Funded Enterprises Established in the First 11 Months of 2024
According to Lu Huiling, Beijing made significant strides in building an open economy by focusing on fostering new quality productive forces. The city adopted the Regulation of Beijing Municipality on Foreign Investment, and launched the “Global Service Partners Program”, with 13 enterprises selected for its inaugural cohort.
In the first 11 months of 2024, a total of 1,777 foreign-funded enterprises were established in Beijing, marking a year-on-year growth of 14%, five percentage points higher than the national average. This was accompanied by the landing of a series of signature projects, including China’s first pharma biotherapeutic API project by a multinational pharmaceutical firm, the Lilly China Medical Innovation Center, the China headquarters of Steinbeis, and Standard Chartered Securities.
Beijing made new headway in building itself into a pacesetter in high-standard opening-up. In the first 11 months of 2024, foreign investment in actual use in its pilot free trade zone accounted for 33.8% of the city’s total, representing a year-on-year increase of 17.9 percentage points. Moreover, the Beijing Yizhuang Comprehensive Bonded Zone was approved, with the goal of becoming China’s first comprehensive bonded zone dedicated to the cultivation of new quality productive forces.
In the 2023 annual performance assessment released by China’s General Administration of Customs, Beijing’s Tianzhu Comprehensive Bonded Zone ranked second nationwide, marking its best performance ever. The Daxing International Airport Comprehensive Bonded Zone experienced a remarkable rise of 55 places in its import and export value ranking, representing the biggest improvement in the country.
