China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone
The China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone aims to utilize Guangxi's close proximity to ASEAN states by building a new global land and sea trading channel, and establish an important gateway that connects the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road and the Silk Road Economic Belt. China's (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone is implemented in a total area of 119.99 square kilometers across three areas: 46.80 square kilometers in Nanning (including 2.37 square kilometers in Nanning's Comprehensive Bonded Zone); 58.19 square kilometers in Qinzhou Port (including 8.81 square kilometers in Qinzhou Bonded Port); and 15 square kilometers in Chongzuo Area (including 1.01 square meters in Pingxiang's Comprehensive Bonded Zone).
The Nanning Area of the China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone
-- Development goals
In accordance with the overall plan of the autonomous region, the Nanning Area will bring into full play the unique geographical advantage of Nanning and fully implement national development strategies, such as the Belt and Road Initiative to build a pilot free trade zone in three to five years. The zone will have a first-class business environment, provide convenient investment and trade, high-end industry aggregation, improved financial services, deep cultural and educational exchanges, efficient resource allocation, deep market integration, easy and efficient regulation, and a good legal environment. The zone hopes to drive the development of surrounding areas, and through the exploration of reforms and innovation, aims to play a greater role in the high-level opening and high-quality development of the region. The reforms and innovations it introduces will be able to be popularized across the autonomous region to drive innovative development.
-- Functional orientation
With an area of 46.8 km², the Nanning Area has four functional areas: modern finance (8.04 km²), digital economy (11.04 km²), culture, sports, and health care (7.91 km²), and processing trade and logistics (19.81 km²) (containing Nanning Comprehensive Bonded Zone with an area of 2.37 km²).
(1) Modern finance. It will be a model in promoting financial openness to the ASEAN, focusing on modern finance, science and technology innovation, information services, and headquarters economy.
(2) Digital economy. It will be an ASEAN-oriented digital economy cluster that focuses on cloud computing, big data, e-commerce, science and technology innovation, smart city, and smart manufacturing.
(3) Culture, sports, and health care. It will serve as a model of Sino-ASEAN cooperation, with people-to-people exchanges that focus on culture and arts, modern media, health care and wellness, and sports.
(4) Processing trade and logistics (containing the Nanning Comprehensive Bonded Zone). This will be an ASEAN-oriented regional advanced manufacturing base and a portal in international land and sea trade. It will focus on strategic emerging industries, export processing, intellectual logistics, cross-border e-commerce, and bonded business.
The Qinzhou Port Area of the China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone
The Qinzhou Port Area of the China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone covers an area of 58.19 square kilometers. It consists of the Qinzhou Free Trade Port Zone (10 square kilometers), the China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park (16.05 square kilometers), and the Qinzhou Harbor of Economic and Technological Development (32.14 square kilometers).
-- Strategic position
It is committed to becoming a major port in the building of China's new channel for international land-sea trade, forming an industrial cluster of the maritime economy, and building a demonstration area for China-ASEAN cooperation.
-- Major industries
It will focus on the development of such industries as port and shipping logistics, international trade, green chemical engineering, new energy vehicles, equipment manufacturing, electronic information, bio-medicine and big data.
-- Development objectives
It is aimed at building a high-level free trade industrial park with high-standards, which is expected to further deepen the opening-up and cooperation between China and ASEAN countries in the aspects of free trade, investment facilitation, cluster development, financial opening-up, supervision, and take a leading and exemplary role.
-- Major tasks
To accelerate the building of the new channel for international land-sea trade and become a major port highly integrated with the Belt and Road Initiative;
To facilitate investment, and form an industrial cluster of the maritime economy;
To explore cross-border cooperative mechanisms between China and other countries in the building of industrial parks, and to build a pilot zone of cooperation with the ASEAN region;
To promote trade liberation and build an industrial cluster of international trade;
To transform government functions and create a world-class business environment;
To deepen reforms and innovation in the financial sector, as well as to build a major channel for the opening-up of finance targeting the ASEAN region;
To fully leverage its leading role in scientific innovation and build an industrial highland for new technology and the new economy.
The Chongzuo Area of the China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone
The China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone was set up in July 2019 with the approval of the State Council. The Chongzuo Area, one of the three areas of the pilot free trade zone, is located in Pingxiang City, Chongzuo City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The Chongzuo Area has an area of 15 km², covering the main urban area, port area, logistics park, and comprehensive bonded zone. It is south of Youyi Pass, north of Hongmu City, West of Puzhai, and to the east of Wantong Logistics Park. It has a planned area of 51.83 km², and belongs to the overall plan of the construction land in the central urban area.
As a pilot zone for comprehensively deepening reform and opening up, the Chongzuo Area is committed to innovating cross-border trade, cross-border logistics, cross-border finance, cross-border tourism, and cross-border labor cooperation. It forms a model zone for cross-border industrial cooperation, and constructs a new portal for international land and sea trade.
There are several national-level open platforms, including the Chongzuo Area, the Guangxi Pingxiang Integrated Free Trade Zone, the Pingxiang Border Economic Cooperation Zone, the Sino-Vietnam Pingyang-Thị trấn Đồng Đăng Cross-border Economic Cooperation Zone, the Guangxi Pilot Zone for Comprehensive Reform of Border Finance, the Guangxi Pingxiang Key Pilot Zone for Development and Opening Up, and the China-ASEAN Pingxiang Pilot Zone for the Inspection and Quarantine of Border Trade.
Along with the seven national level strategic platforms, Chongzuo Area will give full play to its roles as a portal in international land and sea trade, a portal connecting China and China-Indochina Peninsula, an important strategic area of the development and opening up of Southwest and South Central China and the Belt and Road Initiative, and as a pilot zone for deepening reforms and institutional innovation.
Based on cross-border trade, finance, logistics, and tourism, it will accelerate the innovative development, transformation and upgrading of small-scale border trade, accelerate the settlement of enterprises, integrate resources in terms of trade facilitation, cross-border tourism, financial innovation services, land development, inspection and entry, cross-border labor services, business policies, and business environment, and will promote aligned development in and outside of the area.
It will further deepen reforms, expand openness, promote institutional innovation and project construction, and give priority to corporate needs. Based on its advantages as a border area, it will strive to become a new model in the industrial cooperation between China and Vietnam, as well as between China and the ASEAN. It will also be a model of the high-quality development of a port economy, and a new driving force in opening up to the outside. It strives to gain reform experience that could be promoted to other border areas of China.
