established officially in april, 2015, china (guangdong) pilot free trade zone covers an area of 116.2 square kilometers, the zone constitutes three districts: nansha new district in guangzhou of 60 square kilometers (including the 7.06-square-kilometer nanshan bonded port area), qianhai & shekou area of shenzhen of 28.2 square kilometers (including the 3.71-square-kilometer qianhai bay bonded port zone), and hengqin new area of zhuhai of 28 square kilometers. over the past three years, great achievements have been made steadily in china (guangdong) pilot free trade zone and it has taken initial shape as china’s new round pioneer of reform and opening up, the essential hub of the 21st century maritime silk road, as well as the demonstrative area for closer cooperation between guangdong, hong kong, and macao. guangdong will accelerate the development and construction of major platforms such as shenzhen qianhai, guangzhou nansha and zhuhai hengqin, give full play to their experimental demonstration role in further deepening reform, expanding opening up, and promoting cooperation. local government will further expand the development space of hong kong and macau, promote the cooperation and sharing of public service, and establish all-around cooperation between guangdong, hong kong and macau.
nansha new area of guangzhou: focus on the development of shipping logistics, special finance, international commerce and trade, high-end manufacturing and other industries, build a new highland of modern industry led by productive services and an integrated service hub at international level.
the area will work with hong kong and macau for high-level openness, give full play to the advantages of the national-level new district and the free trade pilot zone, strengthen comprehensive cooperation with hong kong and macau, accelerate the construction of the supporting areas of the international shipping, finance and technological innovation for the greater bay area, and turn it into a high-level gateway to the world. the area will reasonably utilize the new construction land in nansha, guangzhou, adjust and optimize the urban layout and spatial structure, further integrate urban planning, comprehensive transportation, and public service facilities with the surrounding areas, and build a “half-hour traffic circle”. it will also support the cooperation between guangzhou nansha, hong kong and macau in building a comprehensive service base for chinese enterprises going global and an international exchange platform as an important opening window for south china.
nansha will jointly build a demonstration zone for innovation and development, strengthen the joint scientific and technological innovation of guangdong, hong kong and macau, jointly develop into a highland to transform south china's scientific and technological innovation achievements, and actively deploy a new generation of information technology, artificial intelligence, health, marine technology, new materials and other technological frontier fields to foster the development of platform economy, sharing economy, experience economy and other new forms of industry. it will support guangdong, hong kong and macau in accordance with the principle of joint construction and sharing in building a deep cooperation park in nansha, guangzhou for guangdong and hong kong industries, exploring the construction of the guangdong-macau industrial park for cooperation with portuguese-speaking countries, and jointly promoting the planning, construction and development of the park. under the jurisdiction and legal framework of the mainland, it will create a high-standard international market-oriented business environment under the rule of law, provide a public service and social management environment connected with hong kong and macau, and provide a new space for the transformation and upgrading of hong kong and macau industries and the employment of residents.
the area will establish an important platform for financial services, strengthen the origin of the financial services real economy, and focus on the development of special finance such as shipping finance, technology finance, aircraft and ship leasing. we will support the cooperation with financial institutions in hong kong and macau, jointly develop offshore financial services in accordance with regulations, and explore the construction of innovative insurance-related trading platforms such as international shipping insurance. we will try to establish the international commercial bank in guangdong pilot free trade zone to serve the construction and development of the greater bay area, explore and establish an account management system suitable for the greater bay area, and conduct pilot tests on cross-border capital management, cross-border use of rmb, convertibility of capital projects to facilitate cross-border trade, investment and financing settlement.
we will create a quality living circle, promote guangzhou nansha's urban planning and construction with high standards, strengthen ecological core competitive edge, highlight the unique cantonese culture, water town culture and marine culture, and build an international city. we will actively explore policies and mechanisms conducive to the development of talents, press ahead with the international talent zone, improve the level of social services and provide more convenient conditions for residents in the region. we will work with hong kong and macau to build a high-level gateway to the world, give full play to the advantages of the national-level new district and the free trade pilot zone, strengthen comprehensive cooperation with hong kong and macau, accelerate the construction of the supporting areas of international shipping, finance and technological innovation functions for the greater bay area, and build it into a high-level opening door. we will reasonably coordinate the new construction land in nansha, guangzhou, adjust and optimize the urban layout and spatial structure, further integrate urban planning, comprehensive transportation, and public service facilities with the surrounding areas, and build a “half-hour traffic circle”. we will also support the cooperation between guangzhou nansha and hong kong and macau in building a comprehensive service base and an international exchange platform for chinese enterprises going global and establishing an important opening window for south china.
shenzhen qianhai&shekou area: focuses on developing strategic emerging service industries such as finance, modern logistics, information services and technology services, and building an opening-up demonstration window for china's financial industry, an important base serving international trade and an international hub port.
we will make further efforts to the engine role of qianhai cooperation. we will timely revise the overall development plan of the former shenzhen-hong kong-based modern service industry cooperation zone, study and further expand the development space of qianhai, and implement the relevant preferential policies of qianhai within the newly added scope. we will cooperate with hong kong to develop an open and innovative industrial system and accelerate moving up the global value chain, promote financial open innovation, expand the offshore account (osa) function, and learn from the free trade account system (fta) of shanghai free trade zone to actively explore the effective path of capital account convertibility. we will support qianhai mercantile exchange (qme) of hong kong exchange (hkex) in developing a commodity trading platform for domestic and foreign customers, explore a new model to serve the real economy, make further efforts to the green finance and financial technology cooperation between shenzhen and hong kong and construct a cross-border economic and trade cooperation network service platform to help enterprises go global and explore the international market. we will develop a new type of international trade center, develop offshore trade, build a land to deliver goods, develop an international high-end shipping service center and develop modern shipping services such as shipping finance. we will establish an offshore innovation and start-up platform which allows registration and international operations in the technology enterprise zone, support the r&d of bonded business in the special customs supervision areas where conditions permit, construct an international cultural and creative base and explore a new model of shenzhen-hong kong cultural creativity cooperation.
we will strengthen cooperation in legal affairs, rationally leverage the legislative power of the special economic zones, speed up the construction of a legal system benefiting open economy, strengthen judicial cooperation and exchanges between shenzhen and hong kong, accelerate the development of the legal service industry, encourage legal service agencies to provide services for the belt and road initiative and mainland enterprises going global, deepen the pilot joint venture law firm of guangdong, hong kong and macau, and study the qualifications and business scope of hong kong and macau lawyers in the nine cities along the pearl river delta. we will establish a diversified dispute resolution mechanism and collaborate with hong kong to develop a center for international legal service and a center for dispute settlement of international commercial affairs, implement strict intellectual property protection, cement the administrative protection of intellectual property rights, and leverage the role of intellectual property courts.
we will establish new centers of international cities, support the establishment of ports in qianhai, shenzhen, and enhance the efficient interconnectivity with hong kong infrastructure, expand the application of hong kong project construction models and introduce more open measures for the construction engineering industries of hong kong. we will draw lessons from the experience of hong kong to improve urban construction and management, establish a world-class forest city, highlight the characteristics of the city, and create a sustainable, smart and ecological green city. we will introduce domestic and foreign high-end education and medical resources to provide world-level high-quality social services, and support international financial institutions in setting up branches in qianhai, shenzhen.
hengqin new area of zhuhai: focuses on developing tourism entertainment and health care, business and financial services, culture, science and education and high-tech industries, developing a cultural education open pilot zone and an international business and leisure tourism base, and creating a new carrier to promote the moderate and pluralistic development of macau's economy.
we will construct a deep demonstration zone for cooperation between guangdong, hong kong and macau, cooperate with macau on establishing a world tourism and leisure center, establish a high-level hengqin international leisure tourism island, study measures facilitating the traveling between hengqin and macau, and allow macau tourism practitioners to provide related services to hengqin. we will support the integrated development of the bounded areas of hengqin, zhuhai hongwan area, establish guangdong, hong kong and macau logistics park, accelerate the construction of major cooperation projects such as hengqin-macau youth entrepreneurship valley and guangdong-macau cooperative industrial park, and study and establish the guangdong-macau information port. we will support the cooperation in guangdong-macau traditional chinese medicine (tcm) science and technology industrial park, explore and make further efforts to strengthen cooperation with the national technology innovation alliance of tcm modernization, provide guidance for the research and approval of new drugs in the park under the premise of complying with relevant laws and regulations, and encourage qualified medical staff from hong kong, macau and foreign countries to work in hengqin.
we will reinforce the cooperation on promoting people's livelihood, support zhuhai and macau in cooperating on comprehensive livelihood projects integrating pension service, housing, education and medical care in hengqin, and try to directly apply macau's medical system and social insurance to the project. on the basis of following basic requirements of hengqin urban planning and construction, we will explore the implementation of macau's planning and engineering supervision mechanism, and engage professionals and enterprises from macau in the development and management of people's livelihood projects. both the medical fund in hengqin for macau residents and schools exclusively for macau students will be established.
we will make further efforts to strengthen cooperation with the outside world, support hengqin and macau in jointly establishing a china-latin america economic and trade cooperation platform, an international trade channel between the mainland and the belt and road countries and regions, and innovate such service trade models as cross-border delivery, overseas consumption, movement of natural persons, and commercial presence. we will encourage hengqin to support macau's development of cross-border e-commerce industry, and help products of portuguese-speaking countries enter the mainland market through macau. hengqin will be permitted to issue visas for foreigners according to the research.
the guangdong free trade zone, as a pioneering zone for a new open economy, a high-level open gateway to the world and a demonstration zone for cooperation between guangdong, hong kong and macau, has proposed important measures covering 18 aspects, including building fair and clean environment under the rule of law, a demonstration window for the opening up of the financial industry, and deepening the free trade between guangdong, hong kong and macau.
