Ten years on, FTZs renew impetus for China's economic growth

By Zhu Bochen: 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, August 22, 2023

Editor's note: China has witnessed significant growth in the establishment of free trade zones (FTZs) since its first pilot FTZ was founded in Shanghai back in 2013. So far, 21 pilot FTZs have been set up across the country and the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port is in full swing.

Over the past decade, these FTZs have attracted highly-skilled international talent, hosted regional headquarters of multinational companies, and housed top-level professional service institutions, becoming the country's most dynamic hubs for an open economy and one of the most desirable destinations for facilitating the cross-border flow of commodities and services.

Through the development of its FTZs, China continues to innovate its collaboration with overseas partners, shore up its weak links in the global industrial chains and enhance its role in the international division of labor. This also provides further support for the country's new development paradigm, which takes the domestic market as the mainstay while allowing domestic and foreign markets to reinforce each other.

Here, China.org.cn reviews some of the key stats in the development of China's FTZs over the past 10 years.