TDM:
Can you brief us on the achievements in building pilot free trade zones? What's the next step going to be? What progress has been made in building a free trade port in Hainan province? Thank you.
Wang Shouwen:
Thank you for your questions. The building of pilot free trade zones is a strategic measure taken by the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core to promote reform and opening up in the new era, which is a milestone in the process of reform and opening up. In 2013, we established the first pilot free trade zone. In the past six years, we have made a series of achievements in all aspects of our work.
Take the layout of the pilot projects as an example. We now have a layout of pilot free trade zones covering all parts of the country, helping to promote a series of national strategies. Now, all coastal provinces have established an effective layout of pilot zones.
The State Council made a total of 24 overall and in-depth plans for pilot free trade zones. These plans have assigned a series of tasks of 18 of these zones, through which more than 200 available experiences have been gained, so that these models can be copied and extended in other parts of the country.
From January to July this year, the 12 free trade pilot zones set up in the previous period, covering less than four-thousandths of the national territory, attracted foreign investment accounting for 14% of the country's total, while the import and export volume accounted for 13%.
The exploratory work on setting up free trade ports with Chinese characteristics is a major national strategy that General Secretary Xi Jinping has personally planned, arranged and promoted. In the past period, the Ministry of Commerce, in accordance with the unified arrangement of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, has drawn on international experiences, proceeded from the specific experiences of Hainan province, and made in-depth studies on the policy and institutional system of Hainan's free trade port in terms of internal and external trade, investment and financing, fiscal and taxation, financial innovation, and entry and exit procedures. Progress has been made in these areas.
As the next step, the Ministry of Commerce will, in accordance with the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, work with other related departments to speed up exploration of building the free trade port in Hainan province, and establish it as a new focus of reform and opening up with a higher level of openness, better business environment and with the ability to play a key role in driving the development of surrounding areas. Thank you.
CRI:
The 2nd CIIE will be held in Shanghai this November. We would like to know what features this year's expo will have. How are the preparations going at present? Thank you.
Zhong Shan:
Thank you for your question. The CIIE is China's major initiative to further widen market access to the rest of the world. We firmly implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instruction of "hosting CIIE with good performance, fruitful results and continued success in the years to come." We are now meticulously preparing for the event, and all is going smoothly. This year's expo will have the following three main aspects:
First, it will be on a larger scale. Enterprises from different countries will participate in this year's expo with more enthusiasm. The total exhibition area this year is 360,000 square meters, which is 60,000 square meters more than last year. There will be more countries, regions, international organizations and enterprises attending.
Second, you will see higher quality. This year's expo will feature more than 250 companies from among the World Top 500. This number clearly surpasses that of last year. Many brand-new products, technologies, and services will be unveiled and exhibited for the first time in China as well as around the world. There will also be more buyers, especially those from foreign countries.
Third, a greater variety of activities will be held. There will be hundreds of themed events during the upcoming expo, and the "CIIE Releasing" platform will be set up for the first time to publish key policies of China and research results of international organizations.
The Hongqiao International Economic and Trade Forum will also be held during this year's CIIE.
We also welcome more participation of media friends in the upcoming CIIE. Thank you.
Xi Yanchun:
Today's press conference is the last one held by the Press Center for the Celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the PRC. On behalf of the Press Center, I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to our media friends. For more interview activities, please follow our website and social media accounts, and I wish you all success in your interviewing. Thanks again to the three speakers. The press conference is hereby concluded. Thank you all.
