Lingang area of Shanghai FTZ releases new five-year development plan

Aerial photo taken on Oct. 24, 2019 shows a view of the new Lingang area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone in Shanghai, east China. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)

The Lingang New Area, a newly launched special area in Shanghai free trade zone (FTZ) in August 2019, recently released its development plan during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), vowing to build itself into a special economic function zone with strong international influence and competitiveness by 2025, reported the Xinhua-run Shanghai Securities News Friday.

According to the plan, the Lingang area will target a higher level of reform and opening-up in investment, trade, capital, transportation, employment, and other fields during the five years.

Priorities will be given to relax foreign investment requirements in certain areas and market entry limits in the Lingang area. Exploration can be made to loosen or remove the limits on cross-border payments, overseas consumption, and the flow of persons in the area.

Lingang area will accelerate the exploration and implementation of internationally competitive tax policies, and explore an advanced added-value tax policy to support enterprises' exporting services.

The plan calls for the Lingang area further to expand opening-up and reform in the financial sector, especially to inject impetus to Yangshan Special Comprehensive Bonded Zone, making it a pilot zone of financial opening-up and reform complying with international competition.

During the 14th Five-Year Pan period, the area will focus on the development of six industries including integrated circuit, bio-medicine, artificial intelligence (AI), civil aviation, intelligent new energy vehicle industry, and high-end equipment manufacturing industry, with their industry scale reaching 100 billion yuan, 80 billion yuan, 90 billion yuan, 60 billion yuan, 200 billion yuan and 100 billion yuan respectively by 2025.

As laid out in the plan, continued efforts will be made to accelerate the construction of an international financial asset trading platform and strengthen the innovative development of the digital economy.