On September 5, the notification on copying and extending the reform and renovation modes of China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone on the second list was released on the official website of the government of Guangdong. There are 39 reform and innovation modes on the list.

 

In accordance with the notification, since the formal establishment of the Guangdong Pilot FTZ a year ago, related units at provincial level have been insisting on making institutional innovation the core task and positive achievements have been made in accelerating transformation of government functions, promoting investment and trade facilitation and propelling financial opening-up and innovation. Under the arrangement of the CPC Guangdong Committee and the provincial government, the Guangdong Pilot FTZ provides another 39 reform and renovation modes that can be copied and extended based on the first 27 reform and renovation modes promoted at the end of 2015. These modes will be extended in related fields throughout the whole province.

 

A total of 35 reform modes will be copied and extended throughout the whole province, including 10 reform modes for investment facilitation, covering reform of business and domicile registration of enterprises; 23 for trade facilitation, covering “Internet + Self-service Customs Declaration”, “Internet + Interactive Inspection”, “Internet + Self-service Tax Payment” and “Internet + Processing Trade”; two for financial innovation, covering cross-border e-business payment system and simplification of foreign exchange business operation procedures.

 

Four reform modes will be copied and extended in related fields throughout the province, including one to be copied and extended at Category I shipping ports in the province for “shipment before re-booking” for cleared export goods, one to be copied and extended at Category I land ports in the province for export goods to “leave in batches through one declaration”, and two to be copied and extended in Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai, respectively for expanding the scope of law firms under joint management in partnership between the parties from the Chinese mainland and those from Hong Kong and Macao as well as intellectual property protection.

 

The notification also requires to enhance institutional innovation, for which the Office of China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone and the local governments of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai should centering on the core task for institutional innovation to make in-depth study of the experience of global FTZs and the rules of multilateral trade organizations, meet with high international investment and trade rules and establish a system of rules meeting the new requirements under the new circumstance; they should make initiative explorations to substantially fulfill the tasks and responsibilities for the development of the pilot FTZ and accelerate the formulation of more modes to provide more useful experience for the national reform and opening-up.

 

Source: Translated from Invest Guangzhou, September 6, 2016