Published on: 2026-06-11
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian –
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Since the beginning of this year, China’s pilot free trade zones have been continuing to optimize their structure, implement institutional innovations, and expand openness, demonstrating a steady momentum of development.
In the new pilot free trade zone of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, established this year, a number of reforms have been significantly achieved, including measures to simplify customs clearance at border crossings.
An intelligent gateway was implemented at the Manzhouli automobile checkpoint: drivers complete the processing in just a few seconds using a QR code. Simultaneously, a joint access model is applied, which allowed reducing the number of repeated inspections and significantly increasing the throughput capacity and overall efficiency of the checkpoint’s operation. From January to April of this year, the total volume of Manzhouli’s imports and exports increased by 43.1 percent compared to the same period last year.
In the area of openness expansion, pilot free trade zones continue to promote experimental projects in such areas as biotechnology and hospitals with 100% foreign capital, as well as facilitate safe, efficient, and convenient cross-border data flow on a larger scale.
For the period from January to April of this year, the actual use of foreign capital in the Beijing pilot free trade zone increased by 50.6 percent compared to the same period last year. Currently, in China, nine pilot free trade zones and the Hainan free trade port have developed and implemented “negative lists” for cross-border data transfer, covering 28 industries, including automobile manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and retail trade.
According to data from the Ministry of Commerce of China, in the first four months of this year, the number of new enterprises with foreign investments in the pilot free trade zones across the country increased by 15.2 percent year-on-year, and the actual use of foreign capital increased by 33.4 percent. At the same time, the actual use of foreign capital in the high-tech sector grew by 82.6 percent.
Moreover, the total volume of imports and exports of goods in the pilot free trade zone reached 3.6 trillion yuan, which is 30.2 percent more than in the same period of the previous year. The share of exports of electromechanical products amounted to 75.8 percent, while the export of high-tech products accounted for 47 percent.
Deputy Head of the Department of Pilot Free Trade Zones and Free Trade Ports under the Ministry of Commerce of China, Ma Chenfan, stated that at the next stage, the ministry is ready to support each pilot free trade zone in conducting experiments on institutional openness, taking into account its own strategic positions and unique advantages, will promote the integration of innovations into complete industrial chains depending on local conditions, create various forms of open platforms, and also expand successful experience in order to achieve the results of institutional innovations.brought benefits over a wider area.
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