[Jin Yan]: Dear friends from the media, good morning! Welcome to the press conference on the 2019 review and evaluation results of the comprehensive development of national economic and technological development zones of the Ministry of Commerce. Today we have: Mr. Zong Changqing, Director of the Department of Foreign Investment Administration, Mr. Zhu Bing, Deputy Director of the Department of Foreign Investment Administration, and Mr. Li Yong, Deputy Director of the Investment Promotion Agency. They will introduce to you the 2019 review and evaluation of the comprehensive development of national economic and technological development zones, and answer the questions raised by friends from the media. Now, I will give the floor to Director Zong.

[Zong Changqing]: Dear friends from the media, good morning. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council have attached great importance to the construction of national economic and technological development zones. General Secretary Xi Jinping made important instructions on accelerating the reform and innovation of the management system of development zones in July 2016, and on the implementation of innovation and upgrading projects of development zones in December 2017. These instructions provided fundamental guidance on work concerning the national economic and technological development zones under the new circumstances. In May 2019, Premier Li Keqiang presided over an executive meeting of the State Council to deploy and promote the innovation and upgrading of national economic and technological development zones. In May of the same year, the State Council printed and issued the Opinions on Promoting the Innovation and Promotion of National Economic and Technological Development Zones and Building New Highlands for Reform and Opening Up (State Council, [2019] No. 11). Vice Premier Hu Chunhua has repeatedly studied and promoted the development of national economic and technological development zones. In November 2019, he attended the on-site meeting on promoting the innovation and upgrading of national economic and technological development zones and made an important speech, putting forward clear requirements for the work of national economic and technological development zones.

To promote the transformation and upgrading of national economic and technological development zones and better implement the new development concept, according to the Guiding Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Improving the Review System of National Economic and Technological Development Zones and Promoting Innovation-Driven Development (hereinafter referred to as Guiding Opinions) and the Measures for the Review and Evaluation of the Comprehensive Development of National Economic and Technological Development Zones (hereinafter referred to as the Measures for Review and Evaluation), the Ministry of Commerce has organized and carried out the review and evaluation of the comprehensive development of national economic and technological development zones since 2016. So far, we have completed the review and evaluation in 2019, and worked out the review and evaluation results and rankings.

Today, on behalf of the Ministry of Commerce, I mainly focus on the review and evaluation of the comprehensive development of the national economic and technological development zones in 2019, and release the relevant information in two aspects.

I. About the 2019 review and evaluation results of the comprehensive development of national economic and technological development zones

In terms of the review and evaluation results, in 2018, 219 national economic and technological development zones generally showed the development trend of making progress while ensuring stability, mainly presenting the following characteristics. First, the development scale grew steadily. In 2018, the gross regional product of the 219 national economic and technological development zones reached 9.5 trillion yuan, up 6.6% over the previous year, and accounted for 11% of GDP. Of the total amount, the gross regional product of Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone, Suzhou Industrial Park, Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Zone, and Qingdao Economic and Technological Development Zone all exceeded 200 billion yuan.

In terms of the review and evaluation results, in 2018, 219 national economic and technological development zones generally showed the development trend of making progress while ensuring stability, mainly presenting the following characteristics. First, the development scale grew steadily. In 2018, the gross regional product of the 219 national economic and technological development zones reached 9.5 trillion yuan, up 6.6% over the previous year, and accounted for 11% of GDP. Of the total amount, the gross regional product of Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone, Suzhou Industrial Park, Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Zone, and Qingdao Economic and Technological Development Zone all exceeded 200 billion yuan. Second, scientific and technological innovation competence strengthened. By the end of 2018, the national economic and technological development zones boast 22,000 high-tech enterprises, with an increase of 20% over the end of the previous year, and 450 national incubators and makerspaces, with an increase of 10%. Every 10,000 people had 72 invention patents, 6.3 times as many as the national average level. For example, the number of high-tech enterprises in Taiyuan Economic and Technological Development Zone and Jiangning Economic and Technological Development Zone reached 579 and 457 respectively. Third, the regional leading role emerged. In 2018, the gross regional product of the 219 national economic and technological development zones accounted for 13.3% of the gross regional product of municipalities where the zones are located; the total export volume reached 3.3 trillion yuan, with an increase of 9.4%, 2.3 percentage points higher than the growth rate of total national export volume over the same period, and accounted for 20.4% of the total national export volume over the same period. The actual utilization of foreign investment (including reinvestment by foreign invested enterprises) was US $ 50.4 billion, accounting for 29.6% of the total amount of municipalities where the zones are located, with an increase of 0.6 percentage points over the previous year. Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone, Nanjing Economic and Technological Development Zone, and Ningbo Economic and Technological Development Zone had 86 matching cooperation zones to assist Xinjiang, Tibet and border regions, with an increase of 12 over the previous year. Fourth, effective results have been achieved in ecological and environmental protection. In 2018, the energy and water consumption of the 219 national economic and technological development zones were lower than the national average level, and the discharge of major pollutants per unit of industrial added value dropped significantly compared with the previous year. By the end of 2018, 33 national economic and technological development zones, including Chengdu Economic and Technological Development Zone, Langfang Economic and Technological Development Zone, and Urumqi Economic and Technological Development Zone, had been named as the national eco-industrial demonstration parks. Fifth, the administrative efficiency has been steadily improved. By the end of 2018, 183 national economic and technological development zones had established one-stop government service halls and online review and approval platforms, accounting for 84% of the total number. Kunshan Economic and Technological Development Zone and Guangzhou Nansha Economic and Technological Development Zone have vigorously improved the efficiency of project review and approval, striving to create a good business environment.

II. About the rankings of the review and evaluation of national economic and technological development zones in 2019.

The Ministry of Commerce entrusted third-party agency to organize a review working group to conduct two rounds of centralized evaluation on 53 indicators of five categories determined by the Review and Evaluation Methods. Through quantitative evaluation method, the comprehensive ranking and individual ranking of the 219 national economic and technological development zones were determined. Approved by the State Council, the relevant rankings and the application of evaluation results are announced.

1. The top 30 national economic and technological development zones in terms of comprehensive development level are, in order, Suzhou Industrial Park, Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development District, Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area, Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, Kunshan Economic and Technological Development Zone, Qingdao Economic and Technological Development Zone, Jiangning Economic and Technological Development Zone, Yantai Economic and Technological Development Area, Nanjing Economic and Technological Development Zone, Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone, Xi'an Economic and Technological Development Zone, Jiaxing Economic and Technological Development Zone, Hefei Economic and Technological Development Area, Hangzhou Economic and Technological Development Area, Wuhu Economic and Technological Development Zone, Guangzhou Nansha Economic and Technological Development Zone, Changsha Economic and Technological Development Zone, Ningbo Economic and Technological Development Zone, Chengdu Economic and Technological Development Zone, Shanghai Caohejing Hi-tech Park, Harbin Economic and Technological Development Zone, Shenyang Economic and Technological Development Zone, Tianjin Beichen Economic and Technological Development Area, Zhenjiang Economic and Technological Development Zone, Xuzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone, Chongqing Economic and Technological Development Zone, Lianyungang Economic and Technological Development Area, Changchun Economic and Technological Development Zone, Dalian Economic and Technological Development Zone, and Nantong Economic and Technological Development Area. These 30 national economic and technological development zones achieved a regional GDP of 3.6 trillion yuan, accounting for 37.7% of 219 national economic and technological development zones.

2. The top ten national economic and technological development zones in absorbing and utilizing foreign investment. The national economic and technological development zones with relatively large scale of actual utilization of foreign investment (including reinvestment by foreign-invested enterprises) while maintaining positive growth are Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development District, Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone, Xi'an Economic and Technological Development Zone, Harbin Economic and Technological Development Zone, Jiaxing Economic and Technological Development Zone, Qingdao Economic and Technological Development Zone, Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area, Suzhou Industrial Park, Chengdu Economic and Technological Development Zone, and Xuzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone. The actual utilization of foreign investment by these ten national economic and technological development zones was US$13.45 billion, up 13.1% year on year, accounting for 26.7% of the total utilization of foreign investment by 219 national economic and technological development zones.

3. The top ten national economic and technological development zones ranking by total import and export volume. The top ten zones with large total import and export volume while maintaining positive growth are Suzhou Industrial Park, Kunshan Economic and Technological Development Zone, Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area, Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development District, Guangzhou Nansha Economic and Technological Development Zone, Suzhou Xushuguan Economic and Technological Development Area, Dalian Economic and Technological Development Zone, Ningbo Economic and Technological Development Zone, Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, and Wujiang Economic and Technological Development Zone. The total import and export volume of the ten national economic and technological development zones was 2.5 trillion yuan, accounting for 41.2% of the total import and export volume of the 219 national economic and technological development zones.

4. The 10 outstanding cases of the development of national economic and technological development zones. During the review and evaluation, the review working group carefully summarized and refined good experiences and practices of some national economic and technological development zones according to the results of review, and selected ten outstanding cases. They are, in order, Suzhou Industrial Park, Jiangning Economic and Technological Development Zone, Qingdao Economic and Technological Development Zone, Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development District, Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area, Dongli Economic and Technological Development Area, Yantai Economic and Technological Development Area, Ningxiang Economic and Technological Development Zone, HangzhouBay Shangyu Economic and Technological Development Area, and Shanghai Caohejing Hi-tech Park.

5. The last 20 national economic and technological development zones that will be interviewed. The interviews will be held at two levels following the convention. First, the Ministry of Commerce will conduct warning interviews with the primary responsible leaders of the last 10 economic and technological development zones, and their leaders in charge from the local municipal governments and the provincial commercial departments. The national economic and technological development zones in the bottom 5 of the review and evaluation will be given key supervision, and the deadline for rectification will be put forward. The 10 national economic and technological development zones that need to be interviewed are Binxi Economic and Technological Development Zone, Alar Economic and Technological Development Zone, Shizuishan Economic and Technological Development Zone, Urumqi Ganquanbao Economic and Technological Development Zone, Wanzhou Economic-Technological Development Area, Binzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone, Hulunbuir Economic and Technological Development Zone, Golmud Kunlun Economic and Technological Development Zone, Jinchang Economic and Technological Development Zone, and Hongqiqu Economic and Technological Development Zone. Yesterday, the Ministry of Commerce conducted interviews with the above 10 national economic and technological development zones. Second, the provincial-level commercial departments will be instructed to interview the primary responsible leaders of the last 11th to 20th economic and technological development zones, and their leaders in charge from the local municipal governments and the provincial commercial departments in accordance with the practice of the Ministry of Commerce. The 10 national economic and technological development zones that need to be interviewed are Yulin Economic and Technological Development Zone, Zhangye Economic and Technological Development Zone, Zhundong Economic and Technological Development Zone, Shuangyashan Economic and Technological Development Zone, Weifang Binhai Economic and Technological Development Zone, China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park, Dongshan Economic and Technological Development Zone, Nanning Economic and Technological Development Zone, Siping Hongzui Economic and Technological Development Zone, and Ruijin Economic and Technological Development Zone.

6. The economic and technological and development zones which will be removed from the national list. Jiuquan Economic and Technological Development Zone has been among the bottom five for two consecutive years. According to the relevant review methods, it will be removed from the list of the national economic and technological development zones after being reported to the State Council for approval. The Ministry of Commerce has sent a letter to the locality to arrange for proper follow-up work.

Dear friends from the media, the establishment of national economic and technological development zones was a major strategic deployment of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council in the 1980s. Since the establishment of the first group of national economic and technological development zones in 14 coastal provinces and cities in 1984, it has experienced the stages of innovative exploration, expansion and growth, rapid development, transformation and upgrading, and now it has developed into the current stage of innovative enhancement. So far, the national economic and technological development zones have spread to 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities across the country, and have become important economic growth poles for China's development, pioneers of opening-up and pilot fields for reform, making significant contributions to China's reform and opening-up, as well as modernization. Since the Guiding Opinions was issued by the General Office of the State Council in 2016, and the Measures for Review and Evaluation was formulated by the Ministry of Commerce, MOFCOM has organized and carried out review and evaluation on the comprehensive development of national economic and technological development zones for 4 consecutive years. In general, through the review and evaluation, a mechanism for national economic and technological development zones to emulate, learn from, catch up with, help and surpass each other has been formed. The review and evaluation has played the role of a "baton".

This press conference is held specially to stimulate the ones that stand out and encourage the ones that fall behind based on the results of the review and evaluation in 2019, including the top-ranked list, the bottom-ranked list on which they will be interviewed, and the list on which they will be removed. This will further reinforce the anti-driving mechanism and break the situation that national economic and technological development zone can only be promoted but not removed.

For the next stage, we will further improve the index system and methods of the review and evaluation in accordance with the decisions and deployments of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. We will increase the intensity of review and evaluation, improve its level, make good use of the "baton", and push forward the courageous development of the national economic development zones so as to better assume the historical mission of reform and opening up, and innovative development. We will do a better job in the "six stabilities" this year, especially in the work of stabilizing foreign investment and foreign trade.

That’s all, thank you.

[Jin Yan]: Thank you Director Zong Changqing. Let’s move on to the Q&A session. Please ask questions around the theme of today’s press conference. Please inform your news organization before asking questions.

Xinhua News Agency: How do national economic and technological development zones serve local economic growth? What measures will be taken to advance the development of economic and technological development zones?

Zong Changqing: For 35 years, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have attached great importance to the growth of national economic and technological development zones, which have started from scratch and grown from weak to strong. They are playing an increasingly important role in China’s overall economic growth and opening up, mainly in the following three areas:

First, national economic and technological development zones are strong engines of economic growth. In the past 35 years, the economic aggregate and development quality of national economic and technological development zones continued to improve. In recent years, the GDP and fiscal revenue of the areas where the 219 national economic and technological development zones are located roughly accounted for one-tenth of the national total. Their roles as major pillars of economic growth keep growing.

Second, national economic and technological development zones are major vessels for opening up. Based on their quality soft and hard infrastructure, national economic and technological development zones have become important vessels for attracting FDI, receiving transferred industries and conducting foreign trade. In some national economic and technological development zones, there are also pilot free trade zones, comprehensive bonded zones and other important opening up platforms. The paid-in FDI (including reinvestment by foreign-invested companies) and import and export of the 219 national economic and technological development zones are about 1/5 of the national total. They are important for building an open economy.

Third, national economic and technological development zones are pioneers for institutional reforms. They are always at the frontier of system and institutional innovations and have started a streamlined and efficient model featuring Administration Committees and a “single window” and “one-stop” service model for investment and development. Reform and innovation have not only driven and guaranteed their own development, but also offered a lot of useful experience for the national reform to streamline administration, delegate powers, and improve regulation and services.

In the next step, focusing on the implementation of Opinions of the State Council on promoting innovation and upgrading national economic and technological development zones to create new pioneers of reform and opening up and the outcomes of the meetings on the innovation and upgrading of national economic and technological development zones, the Ministry of Commerce will follow the requirements of the Central Economic Work Conference to fully keep employment, the financial sector, foreign trade, foreign and domestic investments, and expectations stable and leverage the roles of national economic and technological development zones as platforms to stabilize foreign investment and trade in making substantive progress in the following work:

First, offering more guidance for national economic and technological development zones. The main annual work by national economic and technological development zones will be studied and decided to offer targeted guidance for the development of national economic and technological development zones.

Second, clearer roles for the development of national economic and technological development zones. Focusing on the “three innovations, two improvements and one development” orientation for national economic and technological development zones in a new era, especially the requirement of keeping foreign trade and foreign investment stable, we will take stronger measures to promote trade and investment, improve business environment and offer better administrative services so as to effectively make national economic and technological development zones new pioneers for reform and opening up.

Third, improving the series of indicators and methods for review and evaluation. By focusing on the development of an open economy and keeping foreign trade and foreign investment stable, we will simplify evaluation indicators, improve evaluation methods and optimize evaluation procedures so as to establish and improve a dynamic working mechanism where the best would thrive and constantly improve review and evaluation.

Fourth, focusing on the replication and rollout of experiences. We will summarize the good experience and practice of the development of national economic and technological development zones, with timely replication and promotion. We would also guide national economic and technological development zones in drawing on the successful experience of free trade zones, independent innovation demonstration areas and advanced foreign industrial parks and constantly improve the administrative services of national economic and technological development zones.

Thank you.

CRI: We would like to know more about the evaluation of economic and technological development zones in 2019 and how to ensure that the evaluation is objective and fair.

Li Yong: Thank you for your question. As an independent judicial entity, we CIPA are entrusted by the Ministry of Commerce to review and evaluate the comprehensive development of national economic and technological development zones in 2019. In order to ensure that the evaluation procedure is science-based and rigorous and the result is objective and fair, we have mainly taken the following two measures:

First, implementing relevant work by strictly following the review and evaluation procedure. According to the review and evaluation methods and the requirements of the 2019 data submission notice, we have effectively worked on information collection, local preliminary review, data verification and qualitative evaluation. First, we have coordinated with national economic and technological development zones during the submission and compilation of indicators and data and relevant evidence; second, we have coordinated with provincial commerce departments to complete the initial review of the data and material submitted by the national economic and technological development zones under their jurisdiction; third, we have worked with the National Bureau of Statistics and the National Intellectual Property Administration to cross check some of the data submitted by national economic and technological development zones; fourth, we have established a working group to review and evaluate the data and evidence submitted by national economic and technological development zones collectively.

Second, enforcing strict work disciplines to ensure that the quantitative evaluation is conducted in a regulated and orderly manner. First, all participants would sign a confidentiality undertaking, which clearly requires that they should agree not to be entrusted with any matter related to the evaluation of national economic and technological development zones nor reveal the contents of review and evaluation. Second, during the collective evaluation, no one should privately keep or spread the paper or electronic materials relevant to the review and evaluation nor bring their personal laptop, USB flash disk, mobile hard disk or other storage medium to the workplace. Third, the collective evaluation adopts the withdrawal system, with cross check by several staff in multiple rounds. Practice has shown that such measures effectively blocked any additional interference and ensured that the review and evaluation is objective and fair.

Thank you.

China Media Group: At present, what good experiences and practices are there to promote in the development of national economic development zones?

Zhu Bing: Thank you for your question. Let me answer it. As Director Zong introduced just now, since the State Council issued the No. 11 Document last May, the provincial commerce departments and national economic development zones have taken implementation seriously. Efforts have been made to explore new ways of opening up and promote innovation in science, technology, and systems in national economic development zones. Many good experiences and practices can be drawn on.

In terms of new ways of opening up, we have made great efforts to actively develop an export-oriented economy, expand the scale of FDI inflow, and improve the quality of investment. For example, Zhejiang actively moves forward with the construction of international cooperation parks. At present, 19 national cooperation parks have been established in the province, attracting a number of high-quality projects such as Heineken Beer, ZF, Lithium Werks B.V. with a total investment of more than US$5.1 billion. They attract more investment and are more open than other regions in Zhejiang. Four national economic development zones in Gannan, Jiangxi Province have partnered with six national economic development zones in the eastern region. The cooperation mechanism works well in terms of undertaking the industrial transfer from the east.

In terms of S&T innovation, a lot of efforts have been made to vigorously improve independent innovation capability and facilitate the clustering of high-end industries. The Suzhou Industrial Park has a mechanism to incubate distinctive industry pivoting on the industrial chain, innovation in layout, capital, and service. It has vigorously cultivated three emerging industrial clusters such as biomedicine, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence. Zhejiang has launched a pilot program of industrial chain of the development zone. The chief officials of the Party and government in the area where the development zone is located served as the Chain Chief responsible for development of the industrial chain, including coordinating high-quality resources, establishing and improving working mechanisms, and building an advanced manufacturing and modern service industry chain.

In terms of institutional innovation, more efforts have been made to accelerate the innovation of the national economic development zone's own management system and create a better business environment. Provinces such as Shanxi and Guizhou have formulated and implemented regulations on development zone, clarified the legal status, main functions, and responsibility boundaries of development zones, and straightened out the power-responsibility relationship between development zones and local governments. Provinces such as Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Fujian have stepped up their reform of delegating powers, streamlining administration and improving services, and released a list of matters subject to approval by national economic development zones. Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Zone reformed the statutory body, establishing a market-oriented, open and flexible HR mechanism, and greatly stimulating the enthusiasm of entrepreneurial officers.

In general, there are many good practices in innovation and improvement in various places. There is no shortage of bright spots and diversity. We also hope that the national economic development zones can communicate with and learn from each other in an effort to replicate and promote these good experiences and good practices in accordance with their own realities.

I’ll stop here. Thank you.

Jin Yan: In the interest of time, last question please.

National Business Daily: How can we make better use of the platform of the national economic development zones to support foreign investment and foreign trade?

Zong Changqing: Thank you for your question. I will answer it. The national economic development zone is a platform and tool instrumental to foreign trade, foreign investment, and an open economy. According to the statistics, the utilization of foreign investment and import and export by national economic development zones account for about 20% of the country. National economic development zones have the ability and responsibility to take on more important tasks and play a greater role in the implementation of national strategies concerning development and opening up.

Going forward, the Ministry of Commerce will conscientiously implement the No. 11 document and the spirit of the important speech of Vice Premier Hu Chunhua at the meeting on promoting innovation of national economic development zones in accordance with the requirements for stability in six areas set by the Central Economic Work Conference. We will focus on innovation, enhancement and development in four aspects.
First, make the guidance still clearer. We will introduce the guidance on stabilizing foreign investment and foreign trade, improve the evaluation index system, increase the weight of foreign investment indicator, give better play to the role of assessment, and fully mobilize the inherent enthusiasm and initiative of stabilizing foreign investment and foreign trade in development zones.

Second, further increase funding support. We will allocate a larger share of the special fund of foreign economic and trade development to national economic development zones, and make supporting funds to tilt towards foreign investment and foreign trade. At the same time, we will actively promote local governments to increase support for the special fund and cooperate with each other to jointly put foreign investment and foreign trade on a stable track.

Third, further strengthen international cooperation and investment promotion. We will make full use of the bilateral investment promotion mechanism, support local and national economic development zones to establish exchange mechanisms with foreign local governments and investment promotion agencies, improve the level of international cooperation, and build international cooperation parks at a high level. We will promote the regular exchanges and cooperation between national economic development zones and multinational corporations through holding activities such as briefing sessions on investment plans of multinational corporations and the dialogue between Global Fortune 500 and development zones.

Fourth, further improve the business environment. We will promote the national economic development zone to speed up the reform of delegating powers, streamlining administration and improving services and efficiency. We will support national economic development zones in establishing contact with key enterprises, provide professional and full-process services, and establish and improve service complaint working mechanisms to actively respond to the concerns of enterprises and help them solve problems.

Jin Yan: This concludes the press conference today. Thank you to the three speakers. If you have other questions, you can contact the press office of the Ministry of Commerce after the meeting. We are happy to respond in a timely manner.

In addition, today is Little New Year according to the tradition of the northern China. I wish you a happy festival!

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