China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) on Sunday unveiled 16 measures in five critical areas to accelerate the rise of the country's central region in the new era. These initiatives seek to strengthen the region's role as a competitive inland hub for global connectivity and drive the cultivation and growth of new quality productive forces in the region, among other objectives.
To enhance the central region's competitiveness as an inland open hub, these measures focus on expanding intermodal logistics options, such as "rail-sea," "air-land" and "air-to-air" connections, and promoting the development of inland open corridors. There will also be a push to accelerate the implementation of free trade zone reform pilot experience in the region.
The central region will be supported in developing the "cross-border e-commerce plus industrial clusters" model to streamline customs processes and enhance cross-border trade facilitation, thereby improving trade efficiency, the GAC noted.
To cultivate and develop new quality productive forces in the central region, key measures include facilitating the effective implementation of free trade agreements such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, expanding the range of certificates available for "cloud issuance," strengthening monitoring and analysis of trade in intermediate goods, and promoting the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries.
The GAC also vows to promote the central region's better integration into and support for the new development pattern. Key measures include leveraging the policy advantages of comprehensive bonded zones to create demonstration areas for hosting the transfer of processing trade industries, as well as advancing the construction of pilot zones for deepening China-Africa economic and trade cooperation.
In addition, the GAC will emphasize measures to strengthen the central region's capacity for food and energy security through pilot reforms for inspection and quarantine at designated entry points for imported grain via the China-Europe Railway Express and the reform of energy and resource inspection models.
The customs authority will collaborate with the central region to promote environmental protection and green, low-carbon development. Key measures include enhancing coordinated epidemic and disease prevention at ports and deepening the reform of inspection models for imported and exported hazardous materials.
The central region occupies a vital strategic position in the national development landscape. Its role is pivotal in accelerating the formation of a comprehensive open pattern, with land and sea connectivity and two-way mutual support between the east and west, the GAC noted.
China's central region, covering about one-tenth of the country's land area, is home to about one-quarter of the population and generates about one-fifth of the GDP. It serves as a key base for grain production, energy and raw materials, modern equipment manufacturing, and high-tech industries, as well as a major transportation hub.
In recent years, the nation has introduced policies to encourage the development of the central region. These include easing market access, optimizing industrial layouts, and increasing investment in infrastructure and ecological protection, providing strong support for the region's economic and social development, Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday.
Against the backdrop of the nation's push to cultivate new quality productive forces, the central region also boasts significant advantages. For instance, the region's abundant talent pool and well-established industrial base provide strong support for fostering new productive forces, Wang said.
The region's proximity to developed areas such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou allows it to benefit from the eastern region's technological spillover, access to high-caliber talent, and the diffusion of advanced ideas, helping enhance the technological capabilities and innovation potential of local enterprises, Wang said.
A key meeting held in May 2024 revealed Policy Measures to Accelerate the Development of Central China in the New Era, noting that "relevant departments should intensify their support, and provinces in central China including Shanxi, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei and Hunan should bear their principal responsibilities and form synergy to write a new chapter in energizing the central region," according to the Xinhua News Agency.
The central region is gradually emerging as a new inland hub for an open economy, attracting increasing investment from both domestic and foreign enterprises, driving rapid economic growth, and fostering a positive development trajectory, Wang noted.
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