Service, free trade zone develop at good pace
The Beijing government is taking proactive steps to improve the city's business environment in support of the establishment of a comprehensive development zone for the further opening up of the service sector, and a pilot free trade zone.
Since the State Council approved the construction of the two zones in September 2020, the capital city has attracted a group of key industrial players to invest in more than 1,100 projects, including some 220 foreign-funded ones.
The city has also formed 251 policies with regard to the construction of the two zones, of which 137 policies have been released and implemented over the past six months.
From January to February, 224 new foreign-funded enterprises were added to the city, an increase of 25.1 percent year-on-year.
Contracted foreign investment was registered at $6.61 billion, 1.5 times that registered during the same period last year, and actual utilized foreign investment was valued $2.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 32.7 percent, according to Beijing Bureau of Commerce.
Construction on the two zones has made steady progress in several districts of Beijing. In Haidian, for example, a signing ceremony for 13 key projects was held on March 2 at Zhongguancun Science Park's exhibition center.
Investors include Fortune Global 500 company Xiaomi, Chinese tech company ByteDance, State-owned enterprise China Grain Reserves Group, and some financial institutions.
According to local officials, Haidian will conduct in-depth cooperation with these companies, providing support in land use for building factories and research centers, and offering preferential policies in terms of capital, talent and housing.
In return, Xiaomi, for instance, will further improve the district's electronic information industrial chain and innovation system by utilizing its advantages in artificial intelligence, integrated circuit design and high-end intelligent manufacturing.
ByteDance will make use of its world-leading patented technologies and invest more in education, medical care, e-commerce and technical services.
In Haidian, the pilot free trade zone is designed to cover an area of nearly 22 square kilometers and mainly focuses on scientific and technological innovation.
The demonstration zone regarding services will cover the whole district. Haidian will play its role as a forerunner of opening-up and innovation, and deepen reform in key areas to explore more replicable experiences and practices on constructing the two zones, said Yu Jun, Party secretary of the district.
Daxing district in southern Beijing has also attracted investment from 34 Chinese and overseas companies, with projects involving biomedicine, AI, big data, semiconductor, integrated circuits, new-generation rare earth materials, hydrogen energy research and application and fashion.
Total output value of these projects is expected to hit 100 billion yuan ($15.33 billion) after they are put into operation.
Shunyi district in northeast Beijing will speed up the two zones' construction by centering on the development of aviation services, cross-border finance, cultural and digital trade, business exhibitions, healthcare and international logistics. It held 30 investment promotion activities, research meetings and policy trainings in the last two months of 2020, during which it signed 28 project contracts, with a combined contract value reaching 72.4 billion yuan.
In Beijing's eastern suburban district of Tongzhou, a one-stop service center has been put into use as an important measure to promote the building of the two zones and further optimizing the local business environment, according to the district government.
Currently, the service center has officials from five district-level government departments and can deal with procedures for 37 administrative items. It can also handle applications for work and residence permits for foreigners in China, as well as complaints from foreign-funded companies.
haonan@chinadaily.com.cn
