(Source: "China Economic Times" 2024-06-18)

Building a new higher-level open economic system is an inevitable requirement for building a high-level socialist market economic system and a strategic measure for my country to promote deep reform and high-level opening up. Among them, the construction of high-standard free w88 pilot zones is a key task.

The free w88 pilot zone is not only a "test field" for my country to deepen reform, but also a "pressure pool" for opening up to the outside world. It links internal and external cooperation and is an important support for building a new development pattern. Over the past nine years, my country's free w88 pilot zones have achieved remarkable overall results. After continuous optimization and expansion, up to now, 7 batches of free w88 pilot zones have been approved, with the total number increasing to 22, forming an overall development pattern of free w88 pilot zones that coordinates east-west, south, north, and middle and is open to "coastal + inland + border".

The construction of the free w88 pilot zone has made extraordinary achievements

Data released by the Ministry of Commerce shows that the total import and export of the 22 free w88 pilot zones in 2023 will be 7.67 trillion yuan, and the total foreign investment attracted will reach 208.64 billion yuan. Although the area of the free w88 pilot zones is small, foreign w88 and foreign investment account for 18.4% of the country's total, playing an important role in stabilizing foreign w88 and foreign investment. As an important test platform for my country to deepen reform and expand opening-up, the free w88 pilot zone has institutional innovation as the core content of its construction. After continuous deepening of reform and exploration, the institutional innovation achievements of the free w88 pilot zone have penetrated all aspects of production, distribution, circulation and consumption, promoting the reform of the investment management and commercial system with the negative list as the core, the reform of the w88 supervision system with the focus of w88 facilitation, the reform of the pre- and post-supervision system with the transformation of government functions as the core, and the reform of the financial system with the goal of financial openness to serve the real economy. In terms of reform in the investment field, the pre-establishment national treatment plus negative list management system currently established by the Foreign Investment Law is an important result of the pilot pilot in my country's free w88 pilot zone. In terms of w88 transformation and upgrading, the experience of the international w88 single window system has driven the country's w88 facilitation work. As of now, the paperless customs clearance rate exceeds 90%, and the overall customs clearance time for import and export goods has been reduced from 33 hours to 3.12 hours. In terms of the transformation of government functions, the reforms promoted by the Free w88 Pilot Zone focus on the three aspects of "delegation, regulation and service". Among them, in terms of streamlining administration and delegating powers, the Free w88 Pilot Zone has established new commercial management systems such as registered capital subscription registration, license first, certificate separation, multiple certificates into one, and a single window for approval and registration; in terms of regulatory reform, the Free w88 Pilot Zone has established a "double random, one open" random inspection system and a credit-centered market supervision system for goods entering the zone; in terms of optimizing services, the Free w88 Pilot Zone has comprehensively implemented the "one window service" reform, which has promoted the continuous improvement of government service efficiency. In terms of financial openness and innovation, free w88 accounts have been implemented in the free w88 pilot zones and promoted nationwide. The free w88 pilot zone has played a demonstration role in testing and promoting institutional innovation achievements, and has effectively played the role of a test field, decompression chamber and pilot zone for deepening reform and expanding opening up. At the same time, provinces that have not yet established free w88 pilot zones are also actively learning from the successful experience of free w88 pilot zones, carrying out promotion work according to local conditions, supporting qualified regions to carry out integrated innovation based on the superimposed effect of free w88 pilot zone reform experience, and continuing to release reform dividends.

Photo source: Xinhua News Agency

There is still room for further development in the construction of the free w88 pilot zone

Although the construction of my country's free w88 pilot zones has achieved remarkable results, there is still room for further development.

First, the system and mechanism need to be further straightened out. In the development process, there is still a lack of autonomy, and the cost of institutional innovation and coordination is high. Many reform and innovation powers are still concentrated in relevant central ministries and commissions, and phenomena such as multi-headed management, multiple government departments, and coordination between departments still exist. Some institutional innovations are homogeneous, fragmented, and superficial. In-depth institutional innovations need further breakthroughs. Most initiatives and corresponding changes in government functions are to a certain extent only "micro-innovations", that is, innovations that are carried out within the scope of the current system to promote work efficiency. Compared with the standards for innovation in building a new institutional system, there is still considerable room for development. At the same time, problems of insufficient policy coordination and mismatching policies still exist, which also hinder the implementation of institutional innovation policies to a certain extent.

Second, the differentiation of industrial layout needs to be further strengthened. On the one hand, from the perspective of industry subdivisions in each functional area, the industrial structure and industrial characteristics of each free w88 pilot zone converge, and the free w88 pilot zones may lose the significance of diversified experiments. Some free w88 pilot zones only develop traditional service industries on the basis of existing industries, paying less attention to strategic emerging industries such as intelligent manufacturing, new materials, artificial intelligence, R&D and design. At the same time, they pay even less attention to the layout and development of modern service industries such as cross-border e-commerce, service outsourcing, and modern logistics. On the other hand, some of the current free w88 pilot zones have failed to carry out targeted institutional innovation around the existing industrial base. They have deficiencies in leading industries and characteristic industries, and the overall industrial chain ecosystem needs to be improved. Some free w88 pilot zones are still developing low-end links in the industrial chain, and it is difficult for economic benefits to radiate to areas outside the free w88 pilot zones.

Third, there are still gaps in connecting with high-level international economic and w88 rules. The ability of the free w88 pilot zone to align with international high-standard economic and w88 rules such as intellectual property rights, competitive neutrality, digital w88, and environmental protection needs to be improved. The breadth and depth of the opening up of the service industry are not enough. Although the number of my country's negative lists continues to shrink, it is mainly reflected in the manufacturing sector, and restrictions such as investment prohibitions, equity restrictions, and quantitative business restrictions are relatively high, which to a certain extent restricts foreign investment from entering high-end service industries such as research and development, education, and medical care. In particular, the format and composition of the negative list for my country's financial services industry are far from international agreements, and the threshold for access to banking institutions and businesses is still high. At the same time, the supporting systems and mechanisms of the negative list have not yet been established, making it difficult to implement industries outside the negative list. Insufficient stress testing for major opening risks. my country's free w88 pilot zones have made significant progress in the free circulation of goods, but there are still many institutional and structural obstacles in the flow of advanced production factors such as capital, personnel, information and digital, making it difficult to carry out more vigorous and deeper opening-up stress tests.

Take multiple measures to build a pilot free w88 zone with high standards

To build a high-standard free w88 pilot zone, we should focus on the following tasks.

First, promote the expansion of free w88 pilot zones based on their respective functional positioning. The layout of the China Free w88 Pilot Zone below the Hu Huanyong Line is basically completed, and this part of the area includes the main industries, main institutions, main personnel and main economic support areas of the current Chinese economy. Faced with the constraints of the small number of free w88 pilot zones in the central and western regions and the limited functional space in the eastern region, the central region should make full use of the good transportation infrastructure such as railways, aviation, shipping, and highways, target land port free w88 zones, and consider adding a certain number of free w88 pilot zones appropriately in provinces with mature conditions. We will increase efforts to open up to the west and promote the existing free w88 pilot zones to carry out the practice of cross-border free w88 zones based on early exploration. The eastern coastal region should target free w88 ports, focus on improving the quality of existing free w88 pilot zones, and further expand and upgrade their capacity. When formulating upgrade plans, each free w88 pilot zone may consider expanding its geographical scope based on circumstances. We can consider moderately expanding the coverage area of ​​existing free w88 pilot zones that have achieved remarkable results in reform and opening up. We can also consider selecting and establishing free w88 pilot zones in mature national-level economic and technological development zones, national-level high-tech development zones, and various special customs supervision zones. We can also consider integrating various institutional open pilot areas into the free w88 pilot zone system.

Second, further improve the top-level design and smoothen the management mechanism. Explore and carry out legislative work on the free w88 pilot zone at the national level so that the various system innovations and management operations of the free w88 pilot zone can be legally based. Increase the authorization of central ministries and commissions, grant greater reform autonomy to institutional innovation, reduce power games, and provide a broader space for grassroots institutional innovation and exploration. Improve the incentive mechanism for reform and innovation and the error-tolerance and correction mechanism to protect reformers, encourage innovators, and tolerate failures, further increase the efforts of bold experiments, bold breakthroughs, and independent reforms in the free w88 pilot zone, and achieve the unity between bold experiments and exemption from liability. Design a complete performance evaluation system oriented towards institutional innovation. It is necessary to scientifically define the functional positioning of the free w88 pilot zone management committee, weaken short-term economic growth indicators such as investment promotion, and guide the free w88 pilot zone to truly focus on institutional innovation.

Third, create a distinct industrial layout and expand and extend the existing industrial chain. Each free w88 pilot zone should adhere to the original intention of diversified pilot free w88 zones, pay attention to their respective geographical advantages, economic development level and openness level, and face up to their own advantages and shortcomings. After establishing the basic market elements, we must maintain our unique advantages in industrial development and layout, adapt to local conditions, and promote normal, orderly, and differentiated economic development. We should comply with the positioning of developing characteristic and advantageous industries in the free w88 pilot zone, gradually expand the downstream of the industrial chain to outside the free w88 pilot zone, and steadily improve the stability of the industrial chain and supply chain. Carry out division of labor and cooperation within and outside the free w88 pilot zone. Within the zone, the focus is on the formulation of rules and standards and other mid-to-high-end service links that belong to both ends of the industrial chain; outside the zone, the focus can be on manufacturing and processing and other links, and through specific division of labor and cooperation, the level of cooperation and linkage between the upstream and downstream industrial chains in the free w88 pilot zone can be greatly improved.

Fourth, align with high-standard economic and w88 rules and promote the implementation of higher-standard opening-up in the free w88 pilot zone. In the free w88 pilot zone, we will take the lead in connecting the rules of the multilateral economic and w88 agreements that our country has applied to join. Further expand the opening up of the service industry. The negative list of modern service industries should be significantly reduced, support for financial innovation should be increased, and strategic emerging industries and modern service industries should be strengthened. A legal and regulatory system for services w88 should be formulated based on China's actual conditions and aligned with international rules. The talent training mechanism for service w88 should be improved to provide talent support for expanding the opening of the service industry in the pilot free w88 zone. Each free w88 pilot zone is encouraged to promote in-depth opening-up stress testing and risk testing in the form of division of labor.

(The author is the president and professor of w88 casino)

Attached original link:

 https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/XWBmQBugaKzl3JaIBHJyBw