Business licenses also handed out
China's three new free trade zones (FTZs) were officially launched on Tuesday, and a number of new business licenses were granted to enterprises registered in the zones.
The launch of the China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone, China (Tianjin) Pilot Free Trade Zone, and China (Fujian) Pilot Free Trade Zone comes 18 months after that for China's first FTZ in Shanghai.
The total area of China's FTZs has now expanded from 28.78 square kilometers to about 480 square kilometers, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.
Senior officials from the provincial governments attended the launch ceremonies on Tuesday and unveiled their development plans for the new zones.
Zhu Xiaodan, governor of Guangdong Province, said at the launch ceremony for the Guangdong FTZ that it will become a demonstration zone for Guangdong firms to cooperate with enterprises in Hong Kong and Macao.
The new FTZ will also work as a strategic hub for the country's "One Belt, One Road" initiative, Zhu said.
Overseas enterprises, particularly those from Hong Kong and Macao, will be welcomed to invest in the Guangdong FTZ, according to a press release sent to the Global Times Tuesday by the Guangdong provincial government.
Su Shulin, governor of Fujian Province, said at the launch ceremony for the Fujian FTZ that it will take advantage of its strategic geographic position by playing a key role in cross-Straits economic cooperation with Taiwan.
Su also noted that experience gained through the Fujian FTZ will be helpful in other areas of the country, according to a statement posted on the Fujian provincial government's official website.
The Tianjin municipal government also said in its official microblog account that the Tianjin FTZ will work toward integration of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.
At the launching ceremonies for the three FTZs, a host of business licenses were granted to enterprises registered in the zones, in sectors including finance, e-commerce and services.
Numerous enterprises have shown their interest in entering the new FTZs, and according to media reports, over 6,500 companies have already registered in the Guangdong FTZ.
"Enterprises in sectors including finance, education and healthcare will be interested in the three new FTZs," Zhang Jianping, a research fellow with the Academy of Macroeconomic Research under the National Development and Reform Commission, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
The three FTZs are likely to have their own characteristics, Zhang noted, adding that the Tianjin FTZ will focus on the finance leasing business, while the Guangdong and Fujian FTZs will aim to attract service sector businesses from Hong Kong and Taiwan, respectively, Zhang said.
Wang Jun, an economist at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, a Beijing-based think tank, noted that the Tianjin FTZ will have advantages in accommodating high-end manufacturing businesses.
Enterprises, particularly foreign-backed companies, will be interested in the preferential policies in the new FTZs, and will be able to start new business that are not allowed outside the zones, Zhang said.
"The benefits companies get will outweigh the cost of moving their businesses from outside to inside the new FTZs," Zhang noted.
The State Council on Monday released an updated negative list for foreign investment in the three FTZs. Foreign companies can invest without restrictions in any sector not on the list.
The new negative list includes only 122 items, down from 139 in the Shanghai FTZ, and further opens the country's services sector to foreign companies.
Meanwhile, the three FTZs will offer specific preferential policies.
For instance, Zhu of Guangdong Province said a new management model for foreign and domestic currency accounts will be launched in the Guangdong FTZ to facilitate capital flows between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao.
"Exports and foreign direct investment into China are expected to increase in the new FTZs, and the zones will work as a testing ground for opening up to foreign countries," Wang said.
