The China (Tianjin) Pilot Free Trade Zone (TJFTZ) officially launched in April 2015 as part of China's second batch of free trade zones following the establishment of the Shanghai FTZ. Its strategic positioning is intended to make it an open platform for the collaborative development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.
TJFTZ will fully leverage Tianjin Port’s advantages in being able to serve overseas markets, including Northeast Asia, in order to promote economic growth in Beijing, Hebei and other inland regions. Situated at the eastern end of the Eurasian land bridge, Tianjin benefits multi-modal transportation and other infrastructure for serving trade between countries and regions along the land bridge. It is an important pivot on the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor, which is integral to the Belt and Road Initiative.
1. Preferential Treatments via CEPA and TJFTZ
The development priorities of TJFTZ are different from the other two FTZs launched at the same time. The Guangdong FTZ stresses Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau cooperation and integrated economic development, while the Fujian FTZ puts emphasis on further integration with Taiwanese industries and the development of the Western Taiwan Strait (or Haixi) Economic Zone. In spite of these differences, in common with the Shanghai, Guangdong and Fujian FTZs, TJFTZ adopts a negative list approach and record filing system to simplify foreign investment administration.
2. Expanding Foreign Investment
The "TJFTZ Master Plan" (the Master Plan) stresses the need to steadily expand the scope of economic opening up by lowering the entry threshold for foreign investment, with particular focus on modern service industries such as shipping services, trade services, professional services, cultural services and social services, as well as advanced manufacturing industries such as equipment manufacturing and new-generation information technology. Foreign investment procedures and restrictions will be simplified on the principle of "relaxed entry requirements and strict supervision". The channels and scale of offshore financing will be widened to help enterprises lower their financing costs.
3. Improving International Shipping Services
As far as international shipping for promotion of trade is concerned, Tianjin Port is an integral part of the Bohai Bay Economic Zone, which is one of the three biggest economic zones in China. As the largest comprehensive commercial port in North China, it provides services to over 400 ports in more than 200 countries and regions all over the world. It handled 540 million tons of freight (+8%) and 14.3 million TEUs (+10%) in 2014. Meanwhile, the Tianjin Binhai International Airport, a major air cargo freight centre in North China, handled 233,000 tons of freight and mail and 12 million passenger-times in 2014.
4. Extending Financial Openness and Innovation
In keeping with the development of Tianjin, and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region as a whole, TJFTZ focuses on financial openness and innovation to support the development of the region's real economy. The Master Plan spells out the need to promote and facilitate investment, interest rate marketisation and cross-border use of Renminbi. For example, the trial implementation of policies such as limited capital account convertibility and allowing qualified institutions within the FTZ to freely engage in direct investment, mergers and acquisitions, debt instrument trading, financial investment and other transactions will help reduce the financing costs of enterprises.
Meanwhile, TJFTZ will concentrate on strengthening its financial leasing business and develop shipping finance and shipping insurance in the hope of building Tianjin into North China's international shipping finance centre.
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