China to replicate batch of Shanghai FTZ reforms nationwide
On Thursday, the State Council announced it’s expanding implementation of a battery of policies that have been piloted in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone (FTZ).
- 34 measures will be extended to all 22 FTZs.
- 43 measures will be put into effect nationwide.
ICYMI: The State Council told us this was coming in mid-June.
The measures are aimed squarely at the biggest pain points for foreign businesses operating in China, spanning seven categories:
- Opening up services trade, with a focus on financial services and telecoms
- Liberalizing trade in goods by adjusting rules on issues like freight consolidation and encryption standards
- Implementing high-standard rules on digital trade, from implementing negative lists for data exports for all FTZs, to supporting pilot application of artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous vehicles
- Strengthening intellectual property (IP) protections, including better protections during approval processes
- Reforming government procurement, including by clarifying conditions for foreign businesses being excluded and implementing fair bidding deadlines
- Adopting certain "beyond the border" measures like labor protections, environmental standards, and state-owned enterprise reforms
- Improving trade-related risk prevention, including using big data to flag trade-related quality, safety, financial, and national security risks
Get smart: This ambitious batch of reforms signals that Beijing is serious about further opening up, supporting foreign businesses, and joining multilateral trade pacts.
Get smarter: The list of measures is massive, and worth digging into.
- We'd love to support your business in understanding how you might benefit – get in touch at [email protected].
sources