China’s Heilongjiang FTZ registers surging foreign trade in H1

Employees work on a production line in the sub-area of Heilongjiang pilot free trade zone (FTZ) in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Nov. 13, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Tao)

Northeast China’s Heilongjiang Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) registered a 48.3 percent year on year growth in foreign trade to 16.687 billion yuan in the first sixth months this year, according to the Department of Commerce of Heilongjiang Province.

During the same period, Heilongjiang FTZ's trade volume with Russia, one of its main trading partners, reached 13.503 billion yuan, up 72.8 percent year on year, accounting for 80.9 percent of the FTZ's total foreign trade in the period.

Covering a total area of about 119.85 square kilometers, Heilongjiang FTZ is an important node of the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor and a major channel for deepening China’s opening-up.

From its establishment in 2019 to the end of June this year, the FTZ had achieved a foreign trade volume of 69.084 billion yuan, with 16,539 newly established enterprises settled in the zone, a surge of 96.8 percent compared with that before its establishment.

At the same time, Heilongjiang Free Trade Zone has achieved more than 200 institutional innovation achievements that can be replicated and promoted nationwide in China.