This aerial photo taken on Aug. 1, 2023 shows a view of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone in east China's Shanghai. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)
BEIJING, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Tuesday marked the 5th anniversary of the launching of Lin-gang Special Area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in east China's Shanghai.
Over the past five years, the Lin-gang Special Area has consistently maintained an unwavering commitment to opening-up and reform, achieving remarkable results in regional economic development, institutional innovation, and industrial system construction.
-- Promoting high-quality development
Since its establishment, the Lin-gang Special Area has seen a continuous increase in its economic aggregate, with an average annual growth rate of 19.8 percent in regional GDP.
The area's industrial capacity has successively surpassed the milestones of 100 billion, 200 billion, 300 billion, and 400 billion yuan, accounting for more than one-tenth of Shanghai's share.
The advantage of bulk trade has been consolidated as well, with the sales volume of goods above the limit maintaining an average annual growth rate of 26.5 percent, reaching a new historical high of over 660 billion yuan (about 92.53 billion U.S. dollars) in 2023.
In the field of emerging economy and technological innovation, as of the end of June 2024, the Lin-gang Special Area has 26 national-level and 473 city-level certified specialized and sophisticated small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The financing amount of science and innovation enterprises, excluding undisclosed ones, amounts to about 16.5 billion yuan, which has quadrupled compared to the same period last year.
In the area, the revenue of the core digital economy industry reaches 20.741 billion yuan, up 61.6 percent year on year. More and more local enterprises attach importance to increasing investment in research and development, engage in the new track of the digital economy and improve their products and services with sci-tech innovation.
In the sector of high-end shipping, Yangshan Port completed 2.437 million TEUs of international transit and consolidation container volume in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of 28.6 percent. The filling volume of bonded oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) for international navigation ships reached 982,700 tonnes and 243,300 cubic meters respectively, with a year-on-year increase of more than 140 percent.
Focusing on the financial field, the Lin-gang Special Area has also started a pioneering exploration. A batch of functional platforms such as the international financial assets trading platform, the international reinsurance trading center, the petroleum and natural gas trading center, and the equity investment service center will be put into operation in succession.
After five years of construction and accumulation, the Lin-gang Special Area has yielded fruitful achievements in economic volume and industrial scale, possessing a solid material foundation for advancing towards a higher level of opening-up and innovation.
Statistics show that in the first half of this year, the Lin-gang Special Area introduced 23,700 domestic talents, up 41.9 percent year on year. Nine headquarters of institutions were established here in the same time period, bringing the total to 74.
-- Boosting institutional opening-up
Data shows that in the first half of this year, the Lin-gang Special Area's cross-border payments exceeded 90 billion U.S. dollars for the first time, significantly enhancing the two-way flow of financial elements.
Since the launch, the Lin-gang Special Area has accumulated 138 institutional innovation cases in investment and trade, cross-border finance, and high-end shipping, of which 70 ones are the first of its kind in the country.
On March 24, 2023, the Shanghai Technology Exchange International Center was founded in the Lin-gang Special Area. It fully drew on the strengths of the Lin-gang Special Area as an opening-up platform and a highland of sci-tech innovation, exploring new modes for cross-border technology settlement, promoting domestic enterprises going global and introducing overseas advanced technology.
It is noted that cross-border technology settlement plays an important role in the overall service trade in the Lin-gang Special Area and also a concrete measure in coordinated development of onshore and offshore businesses.
In 2023, the Lin-gang Special Area completed 53 technical import and export filing registrations, a year-on-year increase of 35 percent, with a total amount of 86.21 million U.S. dollars, up 0.24 percent. Among them, there were 35 technical imports with a total amount of 34.16 million U.S. dollars, and 18 technical exports with a total amount of 52.04 million U.S. dollars.
Moreover, the Lin-gang Special Area has further accelerated the construction of the service trade demonstration zone. In August 2023, the Lin-gang Special Area Administration, together with the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, formulated a plan to boost the joint development of service trade and its core industries such as integrated circuits, biomedicine, artificial intelligence, smart new energy vehicles, and civil aviation.
Experts believe that by adhering to high standards and high-quality construction requirements, the Lin-gang Special Area has facilitated the industrial investment and service trade.
(Edited by Tian Shenyoujia with Xinhua Silk Road, tianshenyoga0524@163.com)
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