CRI听力:Forum Held for Sharing Experience of FTZ Development

The free trade zones in Tianjin, Guangdong, and Fujian each began operating less than a month ago. The forum is being held to discuss development and learn from the experience of Shanghai, where the zone has been in operation since late 2013.

At the forum, Shi Liangping, director of the institute of economics at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, has noted that the establishment of a negative list limiting access to the zone for certain businesses and sectors has led to lax supervision of enterprises not included on the list.

"The government should not only cut their approval procedures, but also strengthen the supervision of enterprises. Shanghai has now comes to a consensus that where the vetting process goes, the supervision should follow."

The positioning and advantage of the Fuzhou free trade area in Fujian is also being discussed at the forum.

As the starting point of Maritime Silk Road, Fuzhou mainly focuses on financial cooperation with Taiwan, and maritime trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN).

Fuzhou's mayor Yang Yimin says Fuzhou has adopted financial innovation to promote trade with Taiwan.

"Specifically speaking, these innovations are cross-strait use of the RMB, internationalization of the RMB, and the issue of Taiwan bonds. Currently, the four largest banks in Taiwan have settled in Fuzhou and started operations. These banks have capital of 300 billion RMB and, if circulated, can greatly promote the development of the Fuzhou free trade zone."

Yang added that Fuzhou FTA is also adapting strategic areas such as logistics, customs, and cross-border trade.

He says the next step for the Fuzhou FTZ will be to develop cross-border electronic commerce.

"Fuzhou will research policies and operations modes for cross-border electronic commerce, including tax policies. Last week, Alibaba One Touch came to Fuzhou to discuss the operation of cross-border e-commerce from the Fuzhou FTZ. The main import and export platform has already settled in the city."

As the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road, Fuzhou also has close trade connections with ASEAN countries.

Zhou Jian, chairman assistant of the China ASEAN Marine Product Exchange institute, says it has been provided with a series of favorable policy.

" Customs has simplified its clearance procedures for our exchange institution. Normally, customs is the first pass and then the Nation's Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine is the second pass. Now, the two passes have combined into one pass."

As China seeks to draw more international commerce, more favorable policies for FTZ enterprises are expected to be mulled and adopted.

For CRI, I'm Tu Yun