Qianhai aims to take the lead with innovative measures

　A TOTAL of 109 innovative measures practiced in Qianhai-Shekou pilot free trade zone (Qianhai-Shekou FTZ) last year were released Thursday at its first press briefing of 2017, showcasing the soon-to-be southern financial hub’s healthy momentum and potential for providing more well-tested measures to the rest of the country.
 

　　The FTZ authority said the area generated 24 innovative measures last year to support easier investment, 31 measures to facilitate trade, 26 practices regarding financial innovation, four new modes of Guangdong-Hong Kong cooperation, 10 supervision practices to ensure the government, enterprises and finance, e-commerce, trade and information factors are all on the right track, and 11 trials to improve the legal environment.

　　Among those practices, the authority said that by integrating and simplifying the administrative services for international trade, arranging trade, logistics, information and capital into one channel, carrying out cross-border yuan transactions, utilizing the Internet for online tax services, arbitration and other legal matters, and following the negative list system, the FTZ will create a sound business environment for enterprises.

　　According to Fu Zhengping, deputy director of the Institute of Free Trade Zone of Sun Yat-sen University, the institution gave the highest score to the FTZ for its institutional innovation for investment and the transformation of government functions.

　　Tian Fu, director of Qianhai-Shekou FTZ Authority, said that nine of the innovative measures in the FTZ made it on the list of the national innovative practices, which was released in November. He also said that those measures have successfully saved time and money for Qianhai enterprises, and helped them reduce or remit tax totalling 660 million yuan (US$96 million) in 2016.

　　"To continue pioneering innovation, we will build a policy-making platform to connect State departments and local departments, an innovative platform for enterprises, a platform for Shenzhen and Hong Kong's cooperative innovation and a think tank in 2017," Tian said.

　　He also revealed that Qianhai will build a two-way channel for free trade, commodity circulation, investment and innovation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

　　Zeng Yijing, director of the Shenzhen office of Hong Kong Trade Development Council, has been saying over the past few years that Hong Kong joined hands with Qianhai to promote bilateral cooperation, and innovative measures will continue to be made.

　　"In the future I hope to see more interaction between the two cities. Besides attracting more Hong Kong companies, I would love to see more leading companies in Qianhai set up R&D centers in Hong Kong to create a better talent circulation," Zeng added.

　　Since the establishment of the FTZ, 208 innovative measures have been made, 67 of which were firsts in China and 37 have been adopted by other places in Guangdong.