Xinhua News Agency, December 17— Recently, the State Council issued the Opinions on Speeding up the Implementation of Free Trade Zone Strategy (hereinafter referred to as the Opinions), putting forward the overall requirements of quickening the implementation of the FTZ strategy. The Opinions proposed to further optimize the construction layout of the Free Trade Zones and quicken the building of the high-level FTZs. The Opinions also made specific arrangements on optimizing guarantee system and supporting mechanism, as well as strengthening organization and implementation.

The Opinions pointed out that quickening the implementation of FTZ strategy is an important content of China’s new round of opening up. We should stick to the decisive role of the market in resource allocation, and give better play to the role of the government. We should take both domestic and overseas market into consideration, and comprehensively use the two resources. We should also promote the combination of the construction of “Belt and Road” and the national foreign strategies. We should grasp the initiative of opening up and safeguard our national security, and gradually construct a high standard Free Trade Zone network which is based on the surrounding countries, influences the “Belt and Road” countries and faces the world.

The Opinions emphasized that, in order to speed up the implementation of FTZ strategy, we should stick to the basic principles of expanding opening up, deepening reform, comprehensively participating, breaking through the key points, benefiting each other, common development, scientific assessment and controlling risks.

The Opinions put forward that to accelerate the construction of high-level FTZs, we should enhance the openness of goods trade, expand the opening up of the service industry, lift restrictions of investment, promote negotiations of rules, boost trade facilitation, promote regulation cooperation, drive the travelling convenience of people and strengthen the economic and technological cooperation.

The Opinions required that through deepening the pilot FTZs, we should optimize the laws and regulations of foreign investment, consummate the fundamental regulation of on the spot and afterwards supervision. We should do a good job in trade rescue, construct the trade adjustment and assistance mechanism, and optimize the guarantee system of speeding up the implementation of the FTZ strategy.

The Opinions also required that, through optimizing the third-party evaluation mechanism of the FTZ negotiation, we should strengthen the implementation of the executed FTZ agreements, reinforce the talents supports to the construction of the FTZs, and optimize the supporting mechanism of implementing the FTZ strategy.

(All information published on this website is authentic in Chinese. English is provided for reference only.)