The establishment of Xinjiang Pilot Free Trade Zone brings development opportunities
Xinjiang Horgos Station’s loading warehouse is replaced with a ten-line gripper for bulk cargo loading operations.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhao Ge
Recently, the China (Xinjiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone was officially unveiled, marking the full launch of the construction of the Xinjiang Pilot Free Trade Zone. This is my country’s 22nd free trade pilot zone and the first free trade pilot zone established in the northwest border areas.
Give full play to advantages to promote opening up
Why is the first free trade pilot zone in the northwest border region in Xinjiang?
Xinjiang is located in the hinterland of the Eurasian continent. It is the frontier of my country’s opening to the west and the core area of the “Belt and Road” construction. With the further advancement of the joint construction of the “Belt and Road”, Xinjiang is no longer a remote area, but a bridgehead for my country’s opening to the west.
In Xinjiang, 20 ports open to the outside world have built a “golden channel” connecting the east and west. Through these channels, Xinjiang has established trade relations with 181 countries and regions, and has been approved for 4 comprehensive bonded zones and 4 cross-border e-commerce. Comprehensive test area. According to Urumqi Customs statistics, from 2013 to 2022, Xinjiang’s total import and export value increased from 170.81 billion yuan to 246.36 billion yuan. In the first three quarters of this year, Xinjiang’s total foreign trade import and export value was 252.84 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 47.3%. This is the first time that Xinjiang’s total foreign trade import and export value has exceeded the 250 billion yuan mark. Among them, imports and exports to countries jointly building the “Belt and Road” were 238.22 billion yuan, an increase of 49.7%, accounting for 94.2%.
The “Overall Plan for China (Xinjiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone” issued recently proposes to give full play to Xinjiang’s geographical advantages of “five ports connecting eight countries and one road connecting Europe and Asia”, carry out in-depth differentiated exploration, and cultivate and expand Xinjiang’s characteristic and advantageous industries. After three to five years of reform and exploration, we strive to build a high-standard and high-quality free trade park with an excellent business environment, convenient investment and trade, agglomeration of advantageous industries, sharing of factor resources, efficient management coordination, and outstanding radiating and driving effects. Experts said that the “Plan” uses a dedicated chapter to set out the tasks for Xinjiang in building a comprehensive logistics hub connecting Europe and Asia and deepening exchanges and cooperation in multiple fields of opening to the west. This is one of the highlights of the “Plan”. The location advantage of opening up to the west is an important basis for the construction of the Xinjiang Pilot Free Trade Zone. Xinjiang is not only a major international logistics channel, but also a hub port with multiple functions.
In addition, the “Plan” also proposes reform and innovation pilot tasks such as accelerating the transformation of government functions, deepening reforms in the investment field, promoting innovative development of foreign trade, creating an open characteristic industrial system, and deepening financial services and open innovation. “The central government has given the Xinjiang Pilot Free Trade Zone the reform pilot task, which has a large space for exploration and innovation, a high degree of openness, and a broad pattern of interconnected development.” Sun Hongmei, deputy leader of the leading group for the Xinjiang Pilot Free Trade Zone and vice chairman of the People’s Government of the autonomous region, said, Xinjiang will rely on its port and channel advantages, give play to the leading role of the free trade pilot zone in opening up, deepen exchanges and cooperation in opening up to the west, strengthen interconnection with Central Asia and other neighboring countries and domestic node cities, build a comprehensive logistics hub connecting Europe and Asia, and build China’s Western open bridgehead.
Seize opportunities and seek development
On the afternoon of November 2, Xinjiang Zhongyu Food Co., Ltd. was registered and established in Horgos City. This is the first business license issued by the Horgos Area since the inauguration of the Xinjiang Pilot Free Trade Zone; on November 3, the 12th Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps and Xinjiang Huijia Times Department Store Co., Ltd., a leading enterprise in commerce and logistics in Xinjiang, The signing of the cooperation agreement marks the first enterprise to settle in the 12th Division Park of the Xinjiang Pilot Free Trade Zone; on November 3, the Central Credit Bank of Kazakhstan officially settled in the China-Kazakhstan Horgos Area of the Xinjiang Pilot Free Trade Zone. Sri Lanka International Border Cooperation Center is the first overseas bank to settle here after the Xinjiang Pilot Free Trade Zone was established…
A series of “actions” to seize opportunities are new opportunities brought by the establishment of the Xinjiang Pilot Free Trade Zone. According to the plan, the implementation scope of the Xinjiang Pilot Free Trade Zone is 179.66 square kilometers, and the implementation scope covers three areas: Urumqi, Kashgar, and Horgos, each of which includes the area of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. The “Overall Plan” clarifies the functional division of the three areas. Each area will carry out in-depth differentiated exploration to form a pattern of unique characteristics, collaborative linkage, and competitive development. Experts analyze that the three areas of the Xinjiang Pilot Free Trade Zone present a basic pattern of “one main and two wings”. That is to say, Urumqi is the core and backbone of the entire free trade pilot zone, Kashgar is an export-oriented economic development zone, and Horgos is an open port. The structure of “one main body and two wings” will be of great significance to the future development of Xinjiang.
Specifically, the Urumqi area relies on the location advantage of the joint development of land and airports to strengthen the construction of a land-port national logistics hub and focus on the development of emerging industries such as international trade, modern logistics, and advanced manufacturing. Relying on the advantages of international trade and logistics channels, the Kashgar area will expand and strengthen its export-oriented economy, focusing on the development of labor-intensive industries such as intensive processing of agricultural and sideline products, textile and clothing manufacturing, and electronic product assembly. Relying on the advantages of cross-border cooperation and land border port-type national logistics hub, the Horgos area focuses on the development of modern service industries such as cross-border logistics, cross-border tourism, financial services, and exhibitions.
The Urumqi area covers 134.6 square kilometers, including 30.8 square kilometers of the 12th Corps Division. “The Twelfth Division Park will strive to build a high-end industry and high-end factor cluster oriented to the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative, a processing trade transformation and upgrading demonstration zone, and a multimodal logistics hub center, focusing on the development of modern business logistics, advanced equipment manufacturing, and green food processing. , new materials and other key industries.” Peng Yan, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Director of the Commerce Bureau of the Twelfth Division, said that in the future, with the help of Xinjiang aid resources, the Lubing Free Trade Pilot Zone Collaboration Workstation will be established to carry out institutional innovation research and promote high standards and high quality in the ten Construction of the Second Division Park. In order to make good use of the CIIE platform, Horgos made arrangements in advance and made appointments with nine domestic and foreign companies for negotiations, covering industries such as electronic information, equipment manufacturing, new energy, and new materials. “After the Xinjiang Pilot Free Trade Zone was inaugurated, a large number of businessmen came to Horgos for investment inspections.” Pi Luping, deputy secretary of the Horgos Municipal Party Committee and acting mayor, said that since the inauguration of the Xinjiang Pilot Free Trade Zone on November 1, , more than 30 companies have been registered in the Horgos area.
Detailed policy planning
“The construction of the free trade pilot zone involves a wide range of fields and requires high innovation. It is a systematic project. It is a new platform, new exploration and new opportunity for us.” Li Xuan, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director of the Xinjiang Department of Commerce He said that in order to promote the construction of the Xinjiang Pilot Free Trade Zone, Xinjiang will focus on four aspects: building institutional mechanisms, introducing supporting measures, strengthening policy publicity, and strengthening intellectual support.
In terms of introducing supporting measures, Xinjiang has formulated an implementation plan for the construction of a free trade pilot zone, detailed the reform pilot tasks one by one, and accelerated implementation. At the same time, focusing on the functional positioning of each area, we guided the three areas to formulate differentiated implementation plans according to local conditions, strengthened overall planning and promotion, and supervised implementation. Give full play to the functional advantages and policy superposition advantages of the existing industrial development platforms and open platforms in each area to form a new pattern of unique characteristics, complementary advantages, and coordinated development.
As the Urumqi area with the largest area and the best industrial foundation among the three areas of the Xinjiang Pilot Free Trade Zone, how can it play a greater role in the construction of the Pilot Free Trade Zone?
Wu Jun, executive deputy mayor of Urumqi, introduced that in terms of accelerating the construction of a modern logistics system and promoting the construction of a comprehensive logistics hub connecting Europe and Asia, the city will speed up the construction of a dry port-type national logistics hub and an airport-type national logistics hub, and strive to build a China-Europe freight train. (Urumqi) Assembly Center, operates China-Europe freight trains on a regular basis, effectively connecting the Western Land-Sea Corridor freight trains. At the same time, we will build an international multimodal logistics information platform, promote the opening of the “fifth freedom” of Urumqi International Airport, vigorously develop and jointly build the “Belt and Road” countries’ facilitated international road transportation business, and build the Urumqi pharmaceutical import port. Build a supply chain and logistics chain that “connects the east to the west and leads from the west to the east” to form a transshipment, distribution, and distribution center for important commodities and goods. Hao Weiming, Director of Urumqi Customs and Secretary of the Party Committee, told reporters that Urumqi Customs, as an important participant in the construction of the free trade pilot zone, will further improve regulatory efficiency and service levels, produce more practical results, strengthen integrated innovation, collaborative innovation, and focus on According to the industrial characteristics of each region, we will carry out regulatory process reengineering and optimization work according to local conditions, and strive to promote Xinjiang’s wider, wider and deeper opening to the outside world.
As the starting point of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and an important node of the Asia-Europe golden corridor, how can Kashgar promote the construction of the area? Anivar Tursun, Deputy Secretary of the Kashgar Prefectural Committee and Commissioner of the Administration, said that it is necessary to continue to expand the scale of cross-border e-commerce and overseas warehouse business, improve the capabilities of comprehensive foreign trade service enterprises, and actively promote the development of new business formats such as market procurement and bonded maintenance; fully Release the superimposed advantages of open platforms such as Kashgar Economic Development Zone and Comprehensive Bonded Zone, develop in conjunction with ports, and promote the transformation and upgrading of foreign trade; support enterprises to carry out exchanges and cooperation with neighboring countries in the fields of agriculture, science and technology, culture, tourism, etc.; comprehensively improve interconnection with neighboring countries level of interoperability, creating a growth pole for opening up; accelerating the construction of the Kashgar Port Area, an international hub port of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, building the SCO Silk Road e-commerce? Kashgar cross-border e-commerce base, actively participating in or hosting activities under the SCO framework; enhancing China’s Xinjiang) Kashgar Central Asia and South Asia Commodity Fair has an international level and deepens exchanges and cooperation in multiple fields of opening to the west.
As an important fulcrum in the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt, Horgos has many advantages such as obvious location advantages, numerous open platforms, superimposed preferential policies, and perfect port functions. The approval of the Xinjiang Free Trade Pilot Zone brings the Horgos Belt There are more opportunities for independent exploration, independent reform, and independent innovation. Yershaty Tursunbai, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Governor of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, said that efforts will be made from four aspects: building an internationally advanced port, promoting high-quality development of characteristic industries, exploring financial services and open innovation, and expanding international cooperation in cultural tourism. , increase institutional innovation and practical exploration, and strive to create a new model for cross-border economic, trade and investment cooperation. (Economic Daily reporter Geng Dandan)
(Editor: Wang Jupeng)
