Wuhu News

    BEIJING — China has rolled out a series of guidelines to ensure the well-being of people who had been asked to avoid traveling during the upcoming Spring Festival holiday.

    All residents in areas at high risk of COVID-19 shall stay at their current residing localities to prevent spreading the epidemic, said a recent circular released by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council.

    Travel from medium-risk areas will need permission from the local epidemic prevention and control authorities. Those living in low-risk areas shall be advised to avoid traveling unless necessary, the circular said.

    According to the circular, all localities, especially large and medium-sized cities, are asked to guarantee stable supplies of necessities and energy. It demanded smooth logistics and transport services to meet the needs for shopping, recreation, and entertainment of people who stay where they work during the holiday.

    Efforts should ensure that those who work during the holiday enjoy due overtime payments and rest under the relevant laws, it added.

    The Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, falls on Feb 12 this year.

    Since more than a billion trips are expected to be made by travelers, the Spring Festival travel rush undoubtedly poses a challenge to the country’s prevention and control work, since it may be possible for people who are infected with the novel coronavirus but not showing symptoms to infect others when traveling.

    This is especially true as many migrant workers will be returning to their home villages in rural areas. With the arrival of winter, there has been an uptick in the number of infections. Most of these have been in rural areas in North and Northeast China where the temperatures are much lower than in South China.

    Requiring those returning to their home villages to be tested for the virus would effectively reduce the risk of the epidemic entering the countryside and ensure that everyone can enjoy a healthy and safe Spring Festival.

    That is why an official of the National Health Commission said at a news conference on Wednesday that all those who are traveling to rural areas during the Spring Festival travel period must have a valid certificate for a negative nucleic acid test result.

    So whether to go home or not has become a pressing question for migrant workers.

    Spring Festival trips are normally concentrated a week before and after the Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb 12 this year. Hospitals will likely be crowded with would-be travelers a week before the start and end of this two week period, since a test result is valid only for seven days.

    Of course, it would be safer and make the prevention and control work easier if the majority of rural migrant workers elected to stay where they work for the festival.

    But if some in low-risk areas have a plan to go back to their home villages where no infections have been reported for months, perhaps it would be possible for tests to be organized for them at their places of work, as this would ease the pressure on testing stations. The charge for a test should also be as low as possible.

    For those who choose to stay where they work for the festival, local governments may consider giving them subsidies or help arrange meals, which may possibly prompt more to stay in the places where they work rather than traveling back to their home villages.

    It is important to prevent the virus from being spread in rural areas. But it is also no less important to take into consideration the difficulties workers from rural areas might face if they stay in the places where they work for the festival.

Reporters learned that recently, China Data Pay and Chinafund jointly released the “the ranking of total market capitalization of listed companies in mainland in 2020.” Among them, Wuhu ranked 19^th on the list, which was among the top 20.

The stock market is a barometer of economy. The number, size and competitiveness of listed companies reflect the comprehensive competitiveness of cities to a certain extent. According to statistics, the total market value of listed companies on the Chinese mainland reached 116 trillion yuan by the end of 2020, up nearly 29 trillion yuan from the end of 2019.

Data showed that 659 listed companies in Beijing, excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, had a total market value of 27.18 trillion yuan at the end of 2020, topping the list for a second year.

Wuhu, with a total market value of 882.3 billion yuan, ranks 19th in China, 7th in the Yangtze River Delta and 1st in the whole province.

In addition, China Data Pay also released the “Ranking of Listed Companies in Second and Third Tier Cities by Market Value (2020)”. Data show that the total market value of listed companies in Wuhu at the end of 2020 is 882.3 billion yuan, ranking the fifth in the market value list of second and third-tier cities. Renhuai in Guizhou province, which still has only one listed company, Kweichow Moutai, took the title again.

Translated by Yuan Mengwen from Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhu Municipal People’s Government

The reporter learned from the municipal transportation department that in 2020, Wuhu City will complete the rural road surface extension project of 1265 kilometers, basically realizing the connection between villages and towns, and the initial formation of the rural road network. 317 kilometers of rural road maintenance projects and 94 kilometers of rural road safety and life protection projects have been completed.

During the “13th Five-Year Plan” period, transportation department in Wuhu took rural road construction as an important work to promote rural revitalization and fight against poverty. In the past five years, 2.46 billion yuan has been invested in the city’s rural roads, of which 455 million being invested by municipal finance. A total of 2,071.29 kilometers of rural roads have been opened and 2,057.99 kilometers have been extended. 981.1 kilometers of major and medium maintenance projects have been carried out and 1,235.29 kilometers of county and township roads have been protected. 216.19 kilometers of village roads have been protected and six dangerous bridges have been renovated.

Through the construction of the rural road project and the expansion and extension project, Wuhu has basically realized the hardening of  road for villagers, the basic establishment of road length system, constant improvement of management level and the increasing reasonability of rural road network. Last year, the city was successfully listed as a national pilot city for deepening the reform of rural road management and maintenance system.

Translated by Yuan Mengwen from Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhu Municipal People’s Government

Jiang Xiaochong, from Shangshui village in the Wanzhi district of Wuhu, Anhui province, squatted beside a pond in front of his house, washing vegetables for his lunch just as he did when he was a child.

“It’s not something I could have imagined doing again years ago, since the pond had become severely polluted and smelly,” he said.

Wanzhi literally means “small land in the middle of the estuary”.Located near the junction of the Yangtze and Qingyi rivers, the district is full of water resources.

But this village in inland Anhui, intersected with rivers and scattered with ponds, has seen its waters deteriorate due to increasing pollution from decades of wanton manufacturing and sprawling livestock.

For example, in 2015, the majority of surface water was lowered to Grade IV, the second lowest in China’s five-tier water quality evaluation system, data from the local water resource authority showed.

This destroyed the villagers’ sweet memories about their hometown, Jiang said, and the local government has been striving to improve the rural environment and people’s livelihood since 2015.

A report by the Wanzhi government showed that the district’s investment in pollution prevention projects reached 700 million yuan ($108 million) last year, about 3.6 percent of its GDP.

The government has invested 300 million yuan to collect and process garbage and has issued policies requiring livestock to be raised on qualified farms, meaning the pollutants from the farms have to meet the requirements, according to Ding Meijian, deputy director of the district’s water resource bureau.

In 2019, 185 unqualified livestock farms were closed, further cutting emissions, the report showed.

“Now, the proportion of surface water quality at and lower than Grade IV has been reduced to less than 20 percent,” Ding said.

With the environment improving, Taoxin township, which governs Shangshui, has become more attractive – particularly its lotus plants, which have been blooming in its clean rivers and ponds since 2017.

In 2019, over 500,000 tourists visited the township, bringing in over 80 million yuan, the township government said.

In addition to the lotus, the well-preserved original residences in the township, especially in Huaqiao village, have grown more popular as well.

“The old residences are a living art. They can tell us a lot of stories of how the villagers live,” said Song Yu, a rural development expert in Wuhu, adding that a team of young artists are now protecting the village’s original residences.

After studying the stories of the village and its residents, the artists have charted a plan for Huaqiao’s tourism development, according to Song.

A former teacher from the Wuhu-based Anhui Normal University, he is now in charge of the rural revitalization business sector in Dingfeng Education, a local art training school.

He noted that Wanzhi district has more interest in maintaining the villages’ traditional lifestyles while improving the environment.

When the school opened in Yingang village in 2006, there was a large group of manufacturing plants behind the campus.

In the 1980s, shortly after the country initiated the reform and opening-up process, Yingang villagers started to run manufacturing businesses, so the village soon emerged as one of the richest in Wanzhi district, which had been Wuhu county until earlier last year.

“As the firms developed, pollution became a problem,” said Xia Yunlong, an executive of the school.

“By 2015, the local government had closed the firms that failed to tackle the pollution problem and relocated others to the city’s modernized industrial development areas,” Xia said.

As a result, the vacant plants were left for the government’s disposal, which triggered debates.

The school’s proposal to build the area into a hub of art-related startups was supported by the government, Xia said.

The school renovated the plants into classrooms, conference venues and offices for startups, making the area a popular site for tourists, he said.

To date, 126 firms have been attracted to or founded in the area, which is named Yingang Art Creation Town. Their main business includes art training and design.

“Operating revenue of the firms in 2020 had reached more than 400 million yuan by the end of November,” said Xia, adding that many of the startups have being engaged in reshaping the local villages’ economy.

“Take Huaqiao village as an example. We tell the villagers to do farming in a more ecological way to improve their products’ quality, and we design the brands and packages for the products,” Song said.

He said the firms also help to promote the products through online and offline channels and attract tourists to the village with integrated services including catering and homestay.

    Following the opening of five intercity bus lines to counties (city) and districts, Wuhu city has added four more intercity bus lines to counties (city) and districts by the end of 2020, so as to further meet the needs of urban and rural residents for fast travel.

    The reporter learned from the municipal transportation department that before December 30 last year, the city opened four bus lines to Wanzhi District, Fanchang District, Nanling County and Wuwei City, including K501, K503, K505 and K506, all of which were green and environmentally friendly pure electric buses. Compared with the existing intercity buses, which stop at about 40 stations on average, the additional bus stops along the route are limited to 10, which further shortens the operation time of a single trip, improves the vehicle utilization rate, and better meets the diversified travel demands of passengers. The reporter also learned that the favorable measure for people has been actively planned to promote the exemption of tolls for intercity buses travelling on the Wuhu Yangtze River Bridge. After the implementation of this measure, the bus fares between Wuwei and the downtown area of Wuhu will be greatly reduced, bringing more convenience and benefits to people.

    



It is reported that last year, Wuhu accelerated the transformation of bus lines from city to counties (city) and districts into public transport, promoted the rapid connection with the city-wide public transport network, and comprehensively improved the level of integrated development of urban and rural public transport. According to statistics, since the opening of intercity bus lines in Wuhu on September 29 last year, 103 buses have been put into operation on a daily basis, carrying 460,000 passengers per month and 15,000 passengers per day. The average bus fare is 3 yuan per person, which is significantly lower than that of 8 yuan per person in the same period last year. The monthly travel expenses for the citizens have been cut by 2.3 million yuan in total, which greatly reduces the travel cost of the masses.

Translated by Wang Mengxiao from Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhu Municipal People’s Government

BEIJING, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) — China’s State Council joint prevention and control mechanism against COVID-19 has ordered the strict inspection of vaccine quality, safety and smooth cold-chain transportation, as well as timely and accurate delivery of vaccines, as the country’s first self-developed vaccine got market approval with the vaccination campaign to be carried out nationwide gradually.

China has always attached great importance to the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. The mechanism has also emphasized the importance of providing medical support and service. It especially applies to timely treatment and reporting of adverse reactions during the vaccination drive.

The National Medical Products Administration also established a traceability information system for the management of approved vaccines.

China approved the emergency use of COVID-19 vaccines in June, targeting groups with high risks of infection. By the end of November, more than 1.5 million doses of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines had been distributed for emergency use, and 60,000 vaccinated people have traveled abroad to high-risk regions, with no severe adverse reactions reported.

On Dec. 15, China officially launched a vaccination program for this winter-spring period targeting a number of key groups, including those engaged in handling imported cold-chain products, customs officers, medical workers and people working in public transport and fresh markets. The COVID-19 vaccines will be provided free of charge to all Chinese people.

The number of vaccination doses among the key groups has exceeded 3 million. “The 3 million vaccine doses, plus the previous 1.5 million doses, fully prove that Chinese vaccines are safe,” said Zeng Yixin, deputy head of the National Health Commission.

The most common adverse reaction in the inoculation was pain at the injection site, with less than 0.1 percent cases of mild fever. About two cases per million encountered slightly serious adverse reactions such as anaphylaxis. All the reactions are controllable and have been well treated in a timely manner.

China granted conditional marketing authorization for the first COVID-19 vaccine in December. The inactivated vaccine developed by China National Biotec Group (CNBG) affiliated with Sinopharm showed 79.34 percent efficacy against COVID-19, according to the interim results of the phase-3 clinical trials.

Using killed pathogenic microorganisms to enhance the immunogenicity, inactivated vaccines have advantages of mature production process, controllable quality standards and wide protection range, according to Wang Junzhi, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

China has laid a solid foundation for research into inactivated vaccines in recent years. Inactivated vaccines have been widely used to fight hepatitis A, influenza, hand-foot-and-mouth disease and poliomyelitis.

Authoritative studies show that Chinese-made inactivated vaccines can be more easily stored and delivered via the current cold-chain system, indicating greater accessibility without extra delivery cost, according to Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian.

Some other vaccines approved around the world have stricter cold chain requirements. For example, the COVID-19 vaccine developed by U.S. company Pfizer and German company BioNTech has to be stored at a temperature of minus 70 degrees Celcius.

China has adopted five technological approaches in developing COVID-19 vaccines, of which five are undergoing phase-3 clinical trials.

The five vaccines in phase-3 clinical trials include two inactivated vaccines developed by the CNBG, an inactivated vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech, an adenovirus vector vaccine developed by the Academy of Military Sciences and CanSino Biologics Inc., and a recombinant sub-unit vaccine jointly developed by Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and the Institute of Microbiology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Some countries, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, have approved the Chinese inactivated vaccine registration according to the World Health Organization technical standards. Egypt licensed China’s inactivated COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use on Saturday. Countries, including Brazil, Indonesia, Turkey, Chile and Malaysia, have ordered vaccines developed by Sinovac Biotech.

“China will vaccinate the eligible population as widely as possible, and gradually build an immune barrier in the whole population to control the epidemic,” said Zeng. He added that 60 or even 70 percent of the vaccination rate is needed to establish universal protection.

Fiscal spending likely to focus more on public services to improve livelihoods

Consumption is expected to become a major driving force for China’s economic growth in 2021 with more supportive policies in place, while the country’s fiscal spending is likely to focus more heavily on public services to improve livelihoods, particularly in education, health and elderly care, to keep the economy stable and within a proper range, experts said.

A report issued on Sunday by the Academic Center for Chinese Economic Practice and Thinking at Tsinghua University forecast that China’s GDP is expected to expand by 2.1 percent year-on-year in 2020, with fourth-quarter growth of 5.5 percent.

It predicted that the economy is likely to grow by 8 to 9 percent in 2021 if the COVID-19 pandemic situation continues to taper off, and by about 5 percent if the pandemic makes a severe comeback during the winter and spring.

“Inadequate demand and weak consumption are the major issues facing China’s growth at the moment. Robust policy support should be put in place to boost effective demand, particularly in consumer activities,” Li Daokui, a professor and dean of the Tsinghua think tank, said on Sunday at the release of the report.

In particular, Li said future policy steps should focus more on people’s pursuit of better livelihoods and their demand for smoother, more facilitated migration between urban and rural areas with certain institutional hurdles gradually being phased out. Internet business and the digital economy should develop with more targeted regulatory approaches.

“Internet business and the digital economy have been a major contributor to China’s growth, particularly during the pandemic outbreak, as they have facilitated our lives and boosted consumption,” Li said. “Healthy growth of these businesses is also crucial in adding to China’s competitive edge in emerging industries.”

Well-calibrated regulatory approaches should be stepped up in pursuit of a more effective oversight for the healthy growth of these businesses, said Wu Xiaoqiu, a senior economist at Renmin University of China.

China will keep its economic fundamentals within a proper range, and the country’s proactive fiscal policy will be maintained and introduced in a more effective and sustainable manner, according to the Central Economic Work Conference, which was held from Dec 16 to 18 in Beijing.

Both the deficit-to-GDP ratio and growth of the quota of special local government debt are likely to decline in 2021, yet readjustment and optimization of the fiscal spending structure can be anticipated, according to the report.

Li Keaobo, a senior researcher at the Tsinghua think tank, added that quicker issuance and allocation of next year’s special local government bonds can be expected, while the requirement for the profitability of investment using funds released from these bonds will be raised.

This year, China has set its target for the deficit-to-GDP ratio at over 3.6 percent, up from 2.8 percent a year ago, and the local government bond issuance quota at 3.75 trillion yuan ($573.4 million).

Zhang Bin, a senior fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of World Economics and Politics, suggested on Sunday in a separate interview that efforts in building a stronger social safety net for low-income residents, as well as education and healthcare, should carry more weight in a refined fiscal spending structure to make it more effective and bring greater benefits.

Fairer income distribution is needed to ensure economic expansion brings benefits to everyone, Zhang said, adding that more efforts are required on public services and social security.

Zhu Ning, deputy dean and professor of finance at the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance, summarized fiscal spending in these areas as “new spending on livelihoods”, which he believes is crucial for China to achieve high-quality growth in the years to come.

“Such spending closely relates to core areas of livelihood, and will reduce people’s worries over medical care and education and shore up their confidence in spending,” Zhu said. “On the other hand, these areas have strong and constant demand from the public, and will make our fiscal spending more effective.”

As the Central Economic Work Conference pledged to maintain policy support for the economy with no sudden shift in policies, experts believe that some gradual winding down in 2021 of China’s easing measures introduced since the start of the COVID-19 situation can be possible.

Zhu said he believes that efforts in tax and fee cuts, particularly for smaller firms, will be continued as part of a proactive and effective fiscal policy.

The National Bureau of Statistics announced on Sunday that in the first 11 months of the year, profits of major industrial firms expanded 2.4 percent year-on-year to more than 5.74 trillion yuan, up 1.7 percentage points from the first 10 months.

“Such growth, though mild, is hard won as demand for bulk commodities remains weak worldwide. Robust growth of major industrial sectors such as petrochemicals and steel requires effectively boosting domestic demand and consumption. Expanding domestic demand will become increasingly important for China’s growth with the possible decline in our exports of medical supplies,” said Li Keaobo from the Tsinghua think tank.

As New Year’s Day and the Spring Festival of 2021 are approaching， in order to prevent and control the risk of COVID-19 importation and transmission, the Office of the Comprehensive Emergency Response Headquarters for COVID-19 Prevention and Control in Anhui Province has recently issued a notice on of COVID-19  during the New Year’s Day and the Spring Festival of 2021.

The “notice” requires local governments of all regions to organize capable force, strengthen community grid management, conscientiously carry out personnel information sorting and registration, especially for people from medium-high risk areas, inbound people and people engaged in cold chain handling, processing and transportation, so as to strengthen health monitoring and follow-up management and eliminate potential risks of epidemic importation. For migrant workers returning to Anhui, nucleic acid testing and health monitoring should be carried out in strict accordance with the requirements.

The notice stressed that people should be guided to do a good job in personal protection, adhere to masks-wearing and disinfection of hands, maintain a social distance of more than one meter, and strengthen the concept that individuals are the “first responsible person for health.”

The number of people involved in gatherings and other activities held by enterprises or public institutions shall be controlled. Prevention and control plans shall be formulated for activities involving more than 50 people and relevant prevention and control measures shall be strictly implemented. Family private gatherings, dinners, etc. should be limited to less than 10 people, and families should pay attention to window ventilation every day. If you find fever, dry cough, fatigue and other suspicious symptoms, you should go to the nearest medical institution as soon as possible.

Translated by Yuan Mengwen from Foreign Affairs Office of Wuhu Municipal People’s Government

In September 2020, the State Council, China’s cabinet, issued the Overall Plan for the Beijing, Hunan, and Anhui Pilot Free Trade Zones and the Plan for the Expansion of the Zhejiang Pilot Free Trade Zone. This is the sixth batch of measures tested by the pilot FTZs since 2013, bringing the total number of free trade zones nationwide to 21.

President Xi Jinping, while presiding over the 15th meeting of the Central Commission for Deepening Overall Reform on September 1, called for efforts to promote deeper reform and pursue higher-standard opening-up to provide a strong impetus for shaping a new development pattern.

He stressed the necessity to link the establishment of a new development pattern with the implementation of the national strategy for coordinated regional development and the construction of pilot FTZs. He also said that regions where conditions permit should take the lead in exploring a new development pattern and creating new heights of reform and opening-up.

Dovetailing with the 14th Five-Year Plan

The construction of the sixth batch of pilot FTZs emphasizes the integrated development of metropolitan areas through the integration of industrialization, urbanization, and agriculture. This is also in line with the 14th Five-Year Plan.

The new batch of FTZs will focus on developing urban agglomerations in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and cities along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. It can be seen that the Beijing Pilot FTZ will form a pilot free trade belt with Tianjin and Hebei. The Anhui FTZ will be naturally running on the fast track of the Yangtze River Delta economic integration after it is approved. The FTZ in Hunan has a special role as an international investment and trade corridor linking the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, while deepening economic and trade cooperation with Africa.

The Beijing FTZ will focus on trade in services and the digital economy. Globalization is presently undergoing profound changes. If China is to continue to strengthen its function as a central node in the value chain of the Asia-Pacific region, it is particularly important that it builds a knowledge-intensive digital-oriented global value chain. There are a large number of headquarter enterprises in Beijing, and the differentiated development road charted for it shows that the central government has high hopes for Beijing and the unique role which the Beijing FTZ will play.

In addition to this, the Beijing FTZ is building itself into a sci & tech innovation center with global influence and in coordination with local reforms. All the reform tasks that meet the conditions can be fully implemented in the Zhongguancun National Independent Innovation Demonstration Zone and gradually promoted across Beijing. From a certain perspective, the Beijing FTZ can be compared with the Shanghai Pilot FTZ, founded in 2013, and the Hainan Free Trade Port, proposed in June this year, because of its unique orientation.

After the establishment of the Beijing FTZ, the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region will seem particularly important. We should not only give full play to the characteristics of Beijing as the capital city, cultural center, and economic hub of China, but also to the role of Hebei as a manufacturing hub in the north and of Hebei Baoding Baigou Economic and Trade Zone. Baigou of Hebei Province is an important commodity distribution center. It will be an innovation if the Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei FTZs can be built into a model that incorporates manufacturing and commercial industries, with shipping and logistics in Tianjin Binhai New Area, manufacturing and commercial areas in Hebei Province, and service trade and a booming cultural industry in Beijing. The three can complement each other and develop together.

Wade into the Deep Water Zone

Hunan has long yearned to set up a FTZ of its own. Among central China provinces, Hunan is an important link between the middle reaches of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Objectively speaking, the city clusters in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River have achieved a high level of development, but there is still much room for further development. Hunan is the destination of an extensive transfer of industry and labor from Guangdong. Some processing trade companies have moved from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to Shaoguan in northern Guangdong, and then from Shaoguan to southern Hunan, which can be said to be the extension of the economic belt of the Greater Bay Area.

In addition, Hunan is also an important region in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Changsha, the provincial capital, is one of the three central cities in the city cluster of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and plays a leading role in central China’s economic development.

The Anhui FTZ has undertaken industrial transferring and agglomeration to the north, all of which give full play to the advantages along the Yangtze River from Wuhu to Ma’anshan and facilitates Anhui in integrating into the Yangtze River Delta. Having the support of the University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui can tap into its strength as a science and technology center providing intellectual support for economic integration in the Yangtze River region. It is also conducive to the differential development of Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui to give full play to their comparative advantages.

From a geographical perspective, all the provinces to the east of Heihe-Tengchong Line (regions southeast of the line account for 40 percent of Chinese land territory but more than 90 percent of Chinese population), except Jiangxi in the middle, Guizhou in the west, Shanxi in the north and Jilin in the northeast, are covered by FTZs. In the near future, free trade zones will be set up in every province east of the Heihe-Tengchong Line. This will be an important step for China in building a new pattern of all-round opening-up.

Over the past few years, FTZs have introduced policies to expedite customs clearance for imported goods into them and improve smart monitoring of flow of goods between them and other parts of the country. As long as there are no explicit prohibitions in relevant laws and regulations, citizens or legal persons can act on their own in FTZs. In addition, China is implementing a “pre-establishment national treatment” plus “negative list” management system for foreign investment, and moving ahead in liberalization of trade and the facilitation of investment, while continuing to streamline administration and delegate powers, all of which are tangible results of reform and opening-up.

It is expected that the opening-up and reform of the free trade area will lead to greater depths. Further reform is needed to promote development of the service trade, and China’s financial sector should accelerate in further opening up.

Within the context of China’s endeavors to build a dual circulation development pattern, the expansion of FTZs has broad implications. In the face of unprecedented changes and a once-in-a-century pandemic, China is advancing trade globalization by continuously building a new pattern to deepen all-round reform and expand opening-up on all fronts.