Zhejiang Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) is a free-trade zone in Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province, China. Covering a total area of 119.95 square kilometres (46.31 sq mi) of land spaces and anchorage sea water, the FTZ consists of three parts - Outlying Islands Zone, Northern Zhoushan Island Zone and Southern Zhoushan Island Zone.
Established in 2014, the FTZ primarily focuses on trade of bulk commodity in eastern China, such as petroleum and oil products.
Officially launched on 1 April 2017, the Zhejiang Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) forms part of the third batch of government‑endorsed pilot FTZs. All told, the zone covers an area of 119.95 sq km, consisting of both on‑shore facilities and off‑shore moorings. The zone is broken down into three primary sub‑zones: The Zhoushan Outlying Islands Area (78.98 sq km including the Zhoushan Port Integrated Bonded Area 2 (3.02 sq km)), the Northern Zhoushan Island Area (15.62 sq km including the Zhoushan Port Integrated Bonded Area 1 (2.83 sq km)), and the Southern Zhoushan Island Area (25.35 sq km).
With the promulgation of the Plan for the Expansion of the China (Zhejiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone (the “Expansion Plan”) by the State Council on 30 August 2020, extra territory has been added to the Zhejiang FTZ. The 119.5 sq km new area consists of three sub‑zones in Ningbo, Hangzhou and Jinyi respectively. Covering a total of 46 sq km, the Ningbo Area includes the 5.69 sq km Ningbo Meishan Bonded Area, the 2.99 sq km Ningbo Beilun Bonded Area and the 2.3 sq km Ningbo Bonded Area. The 37.51 sq km Hangzhou Area includes the 2.01 sq km Hangzhou Comprehensive Bonded Area. The Jinyi Area covers 35.99 sq km and includes the Yiwu Comprehensive Bonded Area (1.34 sq km) and the Jinyi Comprehensive Bonded Area (1.26 sq km).
Development Goals
According to the Overall Plan for the China (Zhejiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) approved by the State Council, the Zhejiang FTZ will undertake a three-year period of reform and exploration. Its goals include promoting investment and trade, fostering the growth of high-end industry clusters, and ensuring a regulated and legally compliant environment. The FTZ will offer advanced financial services and effective supervision, serving as a model for the broader business community. Additionally, it aims to enhance the global allocation of bulk commodities, particularly oil and related products, and will play a key role in establishing an international-standard free trade port.
The FTZ's special customs supervision area will prioritize institutional innovation to simplify trade processes, including bonded processing, logistics, and services for international trade. Other areas will focus on creating innovative investment and financial service mechanisms. The zone will support the transshipment of oil and other commodities, bonded fuel oil supply services, aeronautical and equipment manufacturing, and international shipping management.
The Expansion Plan for the Zhejiang FTZ includes setting up a bulk commodity resource allocation base, an international trading center, a shipping and logistics hub, a digital economy demonstration zone, and an advanced manufacturing cluster.
By 2025, the FTZ plans to implement systems that liberalize and facilitate investment and trade, significantly improving its global oil and gas resource allocation capabilities and its status as an international shipping and logistics hub. It also aims to be a global leader in the digital economy and a powerhouse for advanced manufacturing. By 2035, it envisions even further liberalization of investment and trade, the full establishment of an international trading area, and becoming a vital center for high-end manufacturing. The zone will promote international economic exchange and demonstrate the strengths of China's socialist system in the new era.
Foreign Investment Management
The Special Administrative Measures (Negative List) on Foreign Investment Access in Pilot Free Trade Zones, issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, outlines regulations concerning issues like equity ratios and senior management for businesses operating within China's FTZs. For industries not included on the negative list, foreign and domestic investors will be treated equally.
Administrative measures related to national security, public order, culture, financial stability, government procurement, subsidies, special procedures, and tax matters not listed on the negative list will still follow existing regulations. Foreign investments involving national security will undergo review according to China's foreign investment security review guidelines.
Positioning of Sub-zones
The Zhejiang FTZ
Zhoushan Outlying Islands Area
Work on the Yushan Island site will focus on developing a state‑of‑the‑art environmentally friendly petrochemical base, while activity on Shulanghu Island, Huangzeshan Island, Shuangzishan Island, Qushan Island, Xiaoqushan Island and Majishan Island will primarily be geared to developing storage, trans‑shipment and oil and commodity trading facilities. The offshore mooring facilities, meanwhile, will be reserved for the provision of bonded fuel oil supply services.
Northern Zhoushan Island Area
This site will focus on commodity trading, primarily with regard to oil and related products. It will also provide bonded fuel oil supply facilities, as well as bonded logistics services, industrial storage and manufacturing capacity, including the production of equipment for the petroleum and petrochemical industries.
Southern Zhoushan Island Area
This site will focus on commodity trading, aeronautical manufacturing and spare parts logistics, as well as R&D and design work related to a number of ancillary industries. With a particular brief to secure the ongoing development of the Zhoushan Aviation Industry Park, the site will also facilitate trade in aquatic products, promote marine tourism and drive greater utilisation of oceanic resources, while providing an operational platform for companies in the commercial, financial services, shipping, information consultancy and high‑tech sectors.
Expanded Areas of the Zhejiang FTZ
Ningbo Area
This site will build an international shipping hub linking domestic and international markets. It will offer multimodal transport, and aims to provide an economic boost to surrounding areas and generate its own industrial clusters. It will also build an international resource allocation centre for oil and gas, an innovation centre for international supply‑chains, a scientific innovation centre for new materials and a demonstration zone for intelligent manufacturing.
Hangzhou Area
This site will build leading national pilot zones for innovations in artificial intelligence and financial technology. Additionally, it will set up a world‑class centre for demonstrating cross‑border e‑commerce and a demonstration zone for the development of the digital economy.
Jinyi Area
This site aims to turn itself into the world’s small commodity capital. It will build an international small commodity free trade centre, a digital trade innovation centre, and an inland international port and logistics hub. It plans to become a demonstration site for manufacturing innovation and an important platform for open co‑operation under the Belt and Road Initiative.
Hangzhou, China, May 27th (Xinhua - Huang Hui) — "Since its expansion, Zhejiang has fully utilized the overlapping benefits of two national strategies: the Zhejiang Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) and the China-Central and Eastern European Countries Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Zone, with a focus on more precise and effective opening to Central and Eastern Europe."
At a press conference in Hangzhou on May 27th, Hu Zhenfang, deputy director of the Zhejiang Provincial Free Trade Office and the Zhejiang Province Department of Commerce, announced that the Zhejiang Pilot FTZ has set its sights on Central and Eastern Europe as a new direction for opening-up, with the "four ports linkage" strategy poised for new breakthroughs.
The fourth batch of "Top Ten" landmark reform achievements was also unveiled. Since its official launch on April 1, 2017, the Zhejiang Pilot FTZ has been continuously exploring innovative paths. The upcoming second China-Central and Eastern European Countries Fair, from June 8 to 11 in Ningbo, will emphasize strengthening open innovation and enhancing cooperation with Central and Eastern Europe, a key focus of the zone’s development.
Hu Zhenfang highlighted that the FTZ has made phased progress by exploring new systems to facilitate economic and trade cooperation with Central and Eastern European countries. Between January and April, Zhejiang’s imports from these countries surged to 4.07 billion yuan, a 117% increase.
The Zhejiang FTZ is also deepening industrial cooperation with Central and Eastern Europe. For example, Zhejiang Wanfeng Aviation Co., Ltd. has acquired the Czech Sky Pilot, introduced Czech design and manufacturing technologies, and secured intellectual property rights for Austrian and Canadian diamond aircraft. At this year’s CEE Expo, the Czech-designed, China-manufactured Wanfeng aircraft from Shaoxing will debut at a domestic exhibition.
The Zhejiang Pilot FTZ is focused on five key functional areas, including the development of an international shipping and logistics hub, promoting the "four ports"—seaport, dry port, airport, and information port—linkage. To improve connectivity between Zhejiang and Central and Eastern European countries, a direct cargo flight from Ningbo to Budapest, Hungary, was launched on May 26th, and in early June, a new Yi-Xinjiang-Europe liner between Jinhua and Budapest will officially commence.
Source:
https://research.hktdc.com/en/data-and-profiles/mcpc/freetradezones/zhejiang-free-trade-zone
https://cceec.tech/en/news_detail.aspx?id=142
Updated on: Wednesday, September 18th, 2024