New | Commerce minister details scale of China's new free-trade zones
New rules for foreign investors will cover the expanded Shanghai FTZ as well as three new ones planned in Guangdong, Fujian and Tianjin
A new free-trade zone in southern China will sprawl across more than 100 sq km, mainland media reported on Friday as the State Council submitted proposal to the National People’s Congress for setting up three new FTZ and expanding the existing one in Shanghai.
Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng explained the proposal to lawmakers on Friday, saying investment rules in the three FTZs in Guangdong, Tianjin and Fujian, state-run Xinhua reported.
The official microblog of the Economic Daily released the zoning maps of the three free trade zones.
The Guangdong FTZ, spanning an area of 116.2 sq km, will cover Nansha new district in Guangzhou, Qianhai and Shekou districts in Shenzhen, and Hengqin district in Zhuhai, reported Thepaper.cn.
The Tianjin FTZ, which spans 119.9 sq km, will cover Tianjin airport, Binhai New Area and Tianjin port, and the Fujian FTZ, which spans 118.04 sq km, will cover parts of Pingtan, Xiamen and Fuzhou.
The Shanghai FTZ will be expanded from the current 28.78 sq km to 120.72 sq km. It will include Lujiazui, Zhangjiang and Jinqiao districts, mainland media reports said, quoting Gao who detailed the plan to national lawmakers in Beijing on Friday.
Under the plan, foreign investors within the FTZs will no longer have to obtain administrative approval to set up or change their businesses. They will need only to register with the local authorities, Thepaper.cn reported.
The State Council has sought the national legislature’s authorisation to change the laws in the FTZs, and the change is expected to take effect in March.
All three new zones will cover high-performing coastal economic centres, particularly the Guangdong zone, which encompasses Hong Kong and Macau.
Backers of the FTZ plan for Guangdong hope that the zone will help the Pearl River Delta transit from low-end manufacturing businesses to high-end industries.