Circular of the State Council on Issuing the Plan for Further Promoting the Reform and Opening up of the China (Fujian) Pilot Free Trade Zone

Circular of the State Council on Issuing the Plan for Further Promoting the Reform and Opening up of the China (Fujian) Pilot Free Trade Zone

Guo Fa [2018] No.15

May 4, 2018

People's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, all ministries and commissions of the State Council, and institutions directly affiliated to the State Council,

The Plan for Further Promoting the Reform and Opening up of the China (Fujian) Pilot Free Trade Zone is hereby issued to you for your earnest implementation.

Plan for Further Promoting the Reform and Opening up of the China (Fujian) Pilot Free Trade Zone

Building pilot free trade zones is a strategic approach of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council to fully deepen reform and expand opening-up under the new situation. After the operation of the China (Fujian) Pilot Free Trade Zone (hereinafter referred to as the "pilot free trade zone"), the construction has made phased progress and realized expected objectives on the whole. This Plan is formulated to implement the decisions and plans of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, further deepen the reform and opening-up in the pilot free trade zone and expand the cross-straits economic and cultural exchange and cooperation.

I. General Requirements
1. Guiding ideology. Uphold the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, fully implement the guidelines proposed at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, remain guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, implement decisions and plans of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, move forward with the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan and the Four-pronged Comprehensive Strategy, remain committed to the underlying principle of making progress while keeping performance stable, firmly put into practice the new development philosophy, focus on the supply-side structural reform, take institutional innovations as the core and risk controls as the bottom line, continue to emancipate thinking and carry out ground-breaking pilot programs, promote reform, development and innovation via the opening-up initiative, and form a new situation of all-round reform; accelerate establishing the government administration system suitable for marketization and further enhance the government's governance level; give play to coastal advantages of being close to the Taiwan region, and play a bigger role in deepening cross-straits economic cooperation and promoting the building of the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road; improve the systematic integration of the reform and strive to gain more reproducible and propagable institutional innovation fruits to better serve the country's reform and opening-up.
2. Construction Objectives. By 2020, succeed in establishing an institutional system that is in line with international general rules for investment and trade first and creating a law-based, internationalized and facilitated business environment, build a pilot comprehensive reform zone that combines opening-up and innovation, a demonstration zone that deepens cross-straits economic cooperation and the new highland of opening-up and cooperation oriented to the countries and regions along the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. Strengthen the joint actions between the pilot free trade zone reform and the reform in Fujian Province, implement various pilot reform programs within Fuzhou City, Xiamen City and Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Zone in all aspects if conditions permit or promote the same in Fujian Province.

II. Deeply Advancing Reform and Innovation in Various Fields with Reference to International Advanced Rules
3. Further relaxing investment access. Further improve the management system of the pre-access national treatment plus the negative list for foreign investment, dramatically lift restrictions on market access, expand the opening-up of the service sector, make the negative list for foreign investment in the pilot free trade zone more open and transparent, and do the best to create an in-process and ex-post regulatory system compatible with the administration by the negative list system. Clear away and cancel differential treatments in respect of the acquisition of qualifications, bidding and tendering, the protection of rights and interests and so on, and realize the lawful and equal access of various market players to relevant industries, sectors and business. Cooperate with the national security reviews, antitrust investigations and relevant work.
4. Improving international trade facilitation. Explore the verification and cancelation system for processing trade that is more convenient, and form a new-type regulatory mode for processing trade with the logistics chain as the unit. Deeply implement the classification-based supervision of the status of goods, do research into expanding the pilot program from logistics and warehousing enterprises to trade enterprises and manufacturing and processing enterprises, and promote the same in other eligible regions under special supervision of the Customs in Fujian Province when conditions permit. Promote the system on the ATA carnet for the temporary admission of goods. Support the establishment of a pilot national inspection zone and innovatively integrate comprehensive reform measures for inspections and quarantine tests. Widen the range of commodities for which the inspection and quarantine results provided by third parties will be accepted. Make progress in building the quality traceability system for imported and exported products, and make it possible to trace information of the whole process of major sensitive products. Pilot the mechanism whereby the maritime department, the transport department and the vessel inspection department will jointly issue the vessel certificates. Strengthen cooperation in law enforcement among port administrative departments, and expand the "one-stop operations". Empower two or three qualified enterprises within the pilot free trade zone to import crude oil within certain quotas.
5. Creating a high-standard internationalized business environment. Sort out the rules in respect of the establishment of enterprises, construction licensing, property right registration, credit loan accessibility, investor protection, tax payment, bankruptcy settlement, etc.
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