A view of the Lingang New Area of Shanghai Free Trade Zone, on July 8, 2024 Photo: VCG
At the just-concluded China International Fair for Trade in Services, an alliance for global services providers was officially initiated in the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) to share new opportunities for building the Hainan FTP with professional services providers.
The first batch of 10 professional services institutions from home and abroad, including Bank of China, China Galaxy Securities, EY, King & Wood Mallesons and Dun & Bradstreet, have joined the alliance.
Promoting high-quality opening-up has always been a major theme of China’s economic development paradigm, analysts said.
The new international services alliance set up in the Hainan FTP is only one of the latest examples of China’s opening up to foreign businesses.
The growth of multinational companies and China’s free trade zones (FTZs) has been mutually reinforcing, as demonstrated over the years.
In Shanghai, one of China’s most dynamic industrial hubs, the Lingang Special Area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot FTZ celebrated its fifth anniversary in August.
Global shipping giant Maersk has been actively involved in the growth and development of the Lingang zone, including the establishment of its first green smart logistics center there, which is expected to be completed at the end of 2024. Maersk also inaugurated a new international transshipment consolidation center in Lingang earlier this year.
Medtronic – a global healthcare technology leader, is the first foreign-funded Fortune 500 medical technology firm to settle in Shanghai’s Lingang New Area, the company told the Global Times.
In April 2023, the Medtronic medical science and technology industry base started the construction of its first production line in Lingang. Just 11 months later, the first product rolled off the production line.
“The rapid progress of Medtronic’s Lingang industrial base has impressed us a lot, indicating Shanghai speed and Chinese vitality,” Alex Gu, president of Medtronic Greater China, told the Global Times in a recent interview.
According to Medtronic, its new base in Lingang is now becoming a hub for high-end medical technology research and localized production, focusing on heart disease treatment.
Also, Tesla’s story further highlights the success of China’s FTZs. In 2018, China lifted restrictions on the establishment of wholly foreign-owned new-energy vehicle (NEV) companies.
Tesla signed an agreement with the Shanghai municipal government in July 2018 to build its first overseas Gigafactory in Lingang.
Construction of the plant began in January 2019, the initial production began in October, and its first NEV rolled off the assembly line in December 2019, less than a year after groundbreaking.
The Shanghai factory created a miracle by enabling Tesla to realize mass production within one year.
In 2023, Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory delivered 947,000 NEVs, an increase of 33 percent year-on-year, accounting for more than half of its global production capacity.
Globaltimes
