BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) – Comprehensive bonded zone (CBZ), a window of China's opening-up, is expected to see overall upgrading in 2019 with implementation of concrete measures in domestic sales facilitation, research and development (R&D) and innovation, logistics facilitation, cultivation of new forms of business and free trade zone (FTZ) experience application.
Insiders believed that The upgrading will promote CBZ into a power hand to sustain steady growth in foreign trade and investment, enhance trade and investment facilitation, and expand domestic market and demand.
-- CBZs to better facilitate foreign trade and investment
News concerning CBZ has kept appearing recently. For instance, the CBZ in east China's Xuzhou started official operation. The first CBZ in south China's Dongguan won the approval of the State Council. The fourth CBZ in southwest China's Chongqing will be put into operation in 2019.
CBZs have maintained good development momentum in recent years, especially in trade and investment facilitation, helping many regions to create new forms of trade and utilize high-quality foreign investment, pointed out Li Dawei, a researcher of the Institute of Macroeconomics at the National Development and Reform Commission.
In the first three quarters of 2018, the imports and exports in China's special customs supervision areas, comprehensive bonded zones included, reached 3.668 trillion yuan (535 billion U.S. dollars), up by 11.8 percent year-on-year and accounting for 16.5 percent of the country's total foreign trade in the same period.
These special areas have also attracted investment from many leading global manufacturers and created over two million jobs.
“Policy advantages in comprehensive bonded zones attract us a lot, and we will consider carrying out import and export business through these zones in the future,” said Cui Long, a business manager with Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile Company Ltd., adding that these zones can greatly speed up the return of funds thanks to immediate tax refund.
According to Zhengzhou Customs, the total import and export value in the Zhengzhou Xinzheng Comprehensive Bonded Zone hit 310.207 billion yuan in the first 11 months of 2018, accounting for 61.7 percent of the total foreign trade value of Henan Province in the same period.
--CBZ to see further expansion in functions
With establishment of the new opening-up pattern in China, especially the advancement of institutional opening-up and the speedy development of new forms of business, it's necessary to quicken the upgrading and transformation of the widely-distributed CBZs to better function in economic facilitation, said Li Dawei.
A meeting held by China's cabinet, the State Council, in early January clearly proposed to nurture new forms of business in CBZ, such as allowing enterprises in the zones to conduct high-tech, high-value-added bonded test, global maintenance and re-manufacturing businesses that meet environmental requirements, and supporting the outsourcing of international services to promote cross-border service trade.
Expansion of CBZ functions will also provide new drivers for local economic development, helping different regions develop open economy, said Mao Yanhua, deputy head of the Institute of Free Trade Zones at Sun Yat-sen University.
Apart from new business, the meeting also stressed domestic sales facilitation, R&D and innovation advancement and logistics facilitation.
According to Li, these measures are conducive to push forward high-quality development of CBZs, lift their overall technical levels and reduce logistics cost and institutional transaction cost for enterprises within the zones to further stimulate their vitality.
-- CBZ to create new high-land for opening-up
The State Council meeting also decided to support comprehensive zones to take the lead in applying the experience gained in the pilot FTZs to realize the integrated upgrading of all special customs supervision areas.
CBZs are likely to embrace transformation and upgrading in many aspects such as functions, positions and facilitation policies, noted Bai Ming, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
Li stressed that during the application of FTZ experience, comprehensive bonded zones and FTZs should work together for higher-level of opening-up.
He also noted that the emphasis put by the State Council meeting on the upgrading of CBZs is favorable for creating new high-land for opening-up. (Edited by Gu Shanshan)
A single purchase
