Recently, the General Office of the State Council issued Some Opinions on Boosting Innovation and Development in Development Zones and made comprehensive deployment on the proper operation of development zones under the new situation. The Opinions stressed to firmly establish the development concepts of innovation, coordination, green, opening-up and sharing, strengthen the overall planning to various development zones, speed up the transformation and upgrading of development zones, urge the mechanism and system innovation of development zones, improve the management system and policy system of development zones, and further intensify the functional advantages of development zones. Efforts will be made in insisting on reform and innovation to strengthen simplified administration and efficient management, insisting on planning-guided development to improve spatial layout and quantity scale, insisting on clustering and intensive development to give play the scale economy effect, and insisting on development orientation to build a long-term mechanism. The Opinions proposed five key tasks of development zones to be properly completed. First, optimizing the mode and layout of development zones. With industrial development as the main task, the functional layout shall be made in a scientific way. Optimizing business environment shall be continuously regarded as the primary task. State-level development zones will build high-level parks with international competitiveness, and provincial development zones will become regional economic growth poles. Second, accelerating the transformation and upgrading of development zones. Efforts will be made in boosting innovation-driven development, accelerating industrial structure optimization, pushing forward the development of opening-up economy, boosting the realization of green development, and improving infrastructural level. Third, comprehensively deepening the system reform of development zones. The management system of development zones shall be improved according to the principle of simplification and high efficiency to promote integrated and optimized development, encourage establishment of unified management institutions for neighboring and nearby development zones for unified management. Improving administrative efficiency to authorize suitable economic management power to development zones. Strengthening investment promotion to build international business environment. Exploring diverse operation modes to support professionalization of enterprises in development zones. Fourth, improving the land utilization mechanism in development zones. Proper policy privileges can be given to development zones with good development and intensive land use when making annual land use allocation plans. Stringent management to the land of development zones will be made to boost intensive land use and improve land use efficiency. Fifth, management systems for development zones shall be improved. Efforts will be made in intensifying the planning instruction on the development of development zones, strengthening environmental, resource and safety supervision, improving evaluation examination systems, approval procedures and announcement systems and setting up dynamic management mechanism. The establishment, expansion and upgrading of development zones shall be made according to regulated standards and procedures.  

Source: Translated from Invest Guangzhou, Feb. 6, 2017