reply Policy Q&A|How to Build a Higher-Level Pilot Free Trade Zone

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, "Deepen the implementation of the strategy to enhance the Pilot Free Trade Zone, be a pioneer in pioneering and overcoming difficulties, explore in a wider range of areas and at a deeper level, and strive to build a higher level of the Pilot Free Trade Zone." The Government Work Report proposes: "Give more autonomy to the Pilot Free Trade Zone and Hainan Free Trade Port, promote reform and innovation in development zones, and create a new high ground for opening up to the outside world."　　The construction of pilot free trade zones is an important strategic initiative of the CPC Central Committee to promote reform and opening up in the new era. since 2013, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have deployed the establishment of 22 pilot free trade zones. Each Pilot Free Trade Zone has carried out a total of more than 3,500 pilot reforms, formed many iconic and leading institutional innovations, and fostered a number of internationally competitive industrial clusters.　　How to move forward to a higher level? Yang Zhengwei, director of the Department of Coordination for the Construction of Free Trade Zones and Harbors of the Ministry of Commerce, said that the Ministry of Commerce, together with the relevant localities and departments, will carry out explorations in a wider range of fields and at a deeper level according to the needs of domestic development and benchmarking against the highest international standards.　　Granting greater autonomy and exploring new paths for comprehensively deepening reform. The Ministry of Commerce will focus on strengthening the overall planning and system integration of reform, exploring the Pilot Free Trade Zone to carry out a new round of centralized empowerment, support the Pilot Free Trade Zone around the construction of a new open economic system, promote scientific and technological self-reliance and self-improvement and other major issues to increase the exploration, to ensure that the reforms to achieve tangible results.　　Yang Zhengwei introduced that the Ministry of Commerce is studying and formulating the opinions on the implementation of the enhancement strategy of the Pilot Free Trade Zone, and will focus on a number of systematic and breakthrough initiatives in various fields, such as trade, investment, data, finance, talents, scientific and technological innovation and industrial development.　　Comprehensively docking international high-standard economic and trade rules to create a new high ground for system-oriented opening.2023 In 2023, the State Council successively issued two documents, "Several Measures on Piloting Docking International High Standards to Promote System-oriented Opening in Conditional Pilot Free Trade Zones and Free Trade Ports" and "Comprehensively Docking International High-Standard Economic and Trade Rules to Promote the Overall Program of High-Level System-Oriented Opening of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone". The two documents support conditional FTZ ports to docking international high standard economic and trade rules to carry out pilot experiments.　　Yang Zhengwei said, next, the Ministry of Commerce will organize a good assessment of the implementation of the two documents, in a timely manner will have the conditions for the extension of pilot measures to other pilot free trade zones, so that the dividends of openness to benefit more business subjects. At the same time, the Ministry of Commerce will earnestly implement the negative list of cross-border trade in services in the Pilot Free Trade Zone, and study and promote the liberalization of foreign investment access in key areas such as telecommunications and medical care.　　It will strengthen the integrated innovation of the whole industrial chain and strive to be in the forefront in developing new quality productivity. The Ministry of Commerce will support the Pilot Free Trade Zone to further develop the advantages of good industrial foundation, high degree of agglomeration and strong innovation, carry out in-depth differentiated exploration around key areas such as bulk commodities, biomedicine and marine economy, promote integrated innovation of the whole industrial chain, and create more world-leading industrial clusters.