The Ministry of Commerce (MOC) will further take measures to promote high-quality development of pilot free trade zones in 2022, said Wang Shouwen, vice Minister of Commerce and deputy representative for international trade negotiations, at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on March 1st.

First, MOC will align with international standards to promote institutional opening-up in pilot free trade zones and free trade ports where conditions permit. Given that China has taken some new measures in the construction of FTAs, including the application to join CPTPP and DEPA, MOC will refer to high standards of such agreements to reinforce exploration in terms of trade in goods, trade in services, e-commerce, intellectual property rights, to promote institutional opening-up.

Second, MOC will introduce and implement negative lists for cross-border trade in services in pilot free trade zones. In 2021, MOC issued a negative list for cross-border trade in services for Hainan Free Trade Port. On this basis, MOC plans to formulate negative lists for cross-border trade in services for all 21 pilot free trade zones, which can serve to accumulate experience for future opening-up in larger areas via expanding the scope of opening-up.

Third, MOC will further support the development of export-oriented industries and contribute to the formation of the "dual circulation" marked by domestic and foreign markets boosting each other, with the domestic market as the mainstay. MOC will take targeted measures to guide the pilot free trade zones to pivot around their respective strategic positioning, based on local realities and comparative advantages, to carry out the open innovation of the whole industry chain, to strengthen precise investment and industry chain investment, to improve the service system of foreign trade and foreign investment, to attract global factor resources of the industry chain, to accelerate the agglomeration of advantageous export-oriented industries, thus boosting the pilot free trade zones to play the exemplary and leading role in high-level opening up.

Fourth, MOC aims to form new and replicable experience that can be promoted nationwide. MOC will guide the pilot free trade zones to demonstrate the pioneering spirit, strengthen differentiated exploration, as well as summarize and form more replicable and popularized institutional innovation achievements. These achievements should first be tested in provincial areas, and those factored in the seventh batch of pilot reform experience when conditions are ripe should be submitted to and approved by the State Council before being applied across the country.