FTZ bonded areas taking care of business
The bonded areas of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone cover 28.78 square kilometers, including the Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone, the Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Logistics Park, the Yangshan Free Trade Port Area and the Shanghai Pudong Airport Free Trade Zone.
The bonded areas have been stepping up efforts to improve the business environment and institutional innovation in a bid to foster the development of a raft of sectors including advanced manufacturing, financial and shipping services, global trade and professional services.
As the first bonded zone in China, the Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone is the country’s largest customs area, mainly covering international trade, modern logistics and financial services.
The Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Logistics Park mainly serves crossborder logistics, making it an export procurement center for multinational companies in Northeast Asia and a key distribution base for non-ferrous metals and IT parts.
The Yangshan Free Trade Port Area specializes in bulk commodities trade and international shipping services.
The Pudong Airport Free Trade Zone has created a services chain that covers financial leasing, cross-border e-commerce and aviation maintenance.
The total operating revenue at these bonded areas was 1.05 trillion yuan (US$700 billion) in the first half of 2019, and is expected to exceed 2.3 trillion yuan for the full year. By the end of June this year, 34,000 companies had registered in these bonded areas, including 11,000 foreign enterprises. Companies in the bonded areas chalked up a total profit of 50 billion yuan in the first half of this year.
The proportion of traditional industries such as trade, logistics and manufacturing in these bonded areas was at 90 percent before the Shanghai free trade zone was set up, and has since decreased to around 50 percent by now. The ratio of emerging services industries such as business services, technology research and development, and leasing services increased from 10 percent to 50 percent.
In the first half of 2019, the bonded areas realized total imports and exports of 483.7 billion yuan, accounting for 30.5 percent of the city’s total.
Imports from Southeast Asia, Central Asia, West Asia, North Africa and Central and Eastern Europe increased by 9.2 percent from a year earlier.
In the first half, imports of watches in these bonded areas were valued at 3.5 billion yuan, accounting for 38.6 percent of the country’s total imports of watches. Imports of pharmaceutical products were 32.6 billion yuan, accounting for 28.8 percent of the country’s total, while imports of medical equipment were 10.3 billion yuan, or 26.4 percent of the country’s total. Imports of alcohol were 4.13 billion yuan, or 25.5 percent of the total. Imports of cosmetics were 8.15 billion yuan, or 19.7 percent of the country’s total.