The National People’s Congress, the Chinese supreme legislative body, announced that as of next March 1st three new Free Trade Zones (FTZ) will be established in China.
The decision was taken in light of the huge success that the China (Shanghai) Pilot FTZ, established in September 2013, has had in terms of a wider opening of China to the global market, and with the express purpose of being able to replicate that success in different and further areas of the Chinese territory.
The new FTZs will be located in the south of the Guangdong Province, Fujian Province in the east and north of in Tianjin Municipality, a few kilometers south of Beijing.
Even though details about the specific characteristics of the three new areas of free trade have still not been made public, it seems correct to assume that all the main features in terms of regulations and taxation will be closely aligned to those adopted in the Shanghai FTZ, among which, in brief, the establishment of a negative list of investment (outside which any foreign investment is allowed) and a series of preferential policies in the areas of trade and finance.
Furthermore, the establishment of the new FTZs will not “dilute” the importance of the Shanghai FTZ, on the contrary, its total area will be more than quadrupled (from the current 28,00 square kilometers to over 120,00 square kilometers) to include the Jinqiao Export Processing Zone, the Zhangjiang High Tech Park and the financial center of Lujiazui. The establishment of new FTZs, as well as the expansion of the existing Shanghai FTZ, represent a further opportunity for both foreign companies that are already operating in the Chinese market and that intend to expand their business, and for those businesses that are entering the Chinese market for the first time. The FTZs introduce undisputed (operational and financial) benefits both for the former and for the latter, and confirm China’s growing attention towards the global market, of which China is now a leading player.
(Shanghai Office – Giovanni Lovisetti – 0086 215 1501952)
