China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone

The State Council approved the establishment of the China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone (GDFTZ or Guangdong FTZ) at an executive meeting held on December 12, 2014. Officially launched on April 21, 2015, the Guangdong FTZ covers three areas totalling 116.2 sq km: Nansha Area of Guangzhou (60 sq km, including the 7.06-sq km Guangzhou Nansha Bonded Port Area), Qianhai-Shekou Area of Shenzhen (28.2 sq km, including the 3.71-sq km Shenzhen Qianhai Bay Bonded Port Area), and Hengqin Area of Zhuhai (28 sq km).

Nansha Area of Guangzhou

Nansha New Area, or GDFTZ (Nansha), is blessed with the policy advantages of being a state‑level new area, state‑level economic and technological development zone, bonded port area, and new and high‑tech development zone. With a sound industrial foundation, Nansha New Area is one of the country's three shipbuilding bases, a national auto and spare parts manufacturing and export base, as well as a nuclear power equipment manufacturing base in the Pearl River Delta region. Where scientific research is concerned, the research base of the Guangzhou Institute of Industry Technology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences located in Nansha has built a technology innovation platform for numerical‑control equipment technology research and development, and modern logistics industry planning services; and it has been rated as a state‑level technology transfer demonstration base. Moreover, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Fok Ying Tung Foundation have jointly established a facility for promoting the internationalisation of traditional Chinese medicine in Nansha New Area.

Qianhai-Shekou Area of Shenzhen

Qianhai and Shekou are just across the sea from Hong Kong. Leveraging on the close cooperation in modern services between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, and taking advantage of Hong Kong's rule of law and level of internationalisation as well as its advanced port development, GDFTZ (Qianhai-Shekou) will give emphasis to developing new strategic services such as finance, modern logistics, information, and technology services. It aims to build itself into a pilot demonstration base for China's financial sector opening up to the outside world, an important base for trade in services worldwide and an international hub port of China.

Hengqin Area of Zhuhai

The Hengqin New Area, or GDFTZ (Hengqin), linked to Macao via the Lianhua Bridge, implements an innovative supervision mode of round-the-island real-time monitoring. Capitalising on the cooperation with higher education institutes such as the University of Macau and the development of the Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in Zhuhai, GDFTZ (Hengqin) will give emphasis to developing such industries as tourism, leisure and health; commercial and financial services; culture, science and education; and new and high technology. Action will be taken to set up a pilot zone for the opening-up of cultural and education services and an international commercial services and leisure tourism base, as well as create a new carrier for the diversified development of Macao's economy.