Major reforms assist in boosting region's long-term development

By Yuan Shenggao | China Daily | Updated: 2019-03-05 07:15

China (Hubei) Pilot Free Trade Zone Yichang Area has reported outstanding results by replicating methods shared by other FTZs and carrying out reform.

Statistics from the FTZ Yichang Area show that the region, established in 2017, was required to promote 112 best practices shared by other FTZs. By October last year, 81 had been implemented and 31 were in progress.

The FTZ Yichang Area was also assigned by authorities 165 tasks to support construction of China (Hubei) Pilot Free Trade Zone, according to local officials. Among them, 105 were carried out by the end of October.

In addition, the area released 83 innovative policies, which provide strong support for local businesses. For instance, it introduced an online system to manage export tax refund and exemption. Officials revealed that the processing time for tax refunds was reduced from 20 working days to two or three with the new digital system.

Over the past two years, the area has made great efforts to cut unnecessary procedures to provide more convenience to companies.

The FTZ Yichang Area is the first region in Hubei province to introduce a so-called "single window for all" government service model. Under this, companies that need support or services from government departments can submit their requests at any service desk in the area's service center. Staff members will help to process the information and assign companies' requests to relevant departments.

Compared to the old model, the new model saves companies the trouble of visiting multiple government departments for different requests. In the FTZ Yichang Area, it takes only one hour to register a company, according to local officials.

Luring top professionals

High-caliber professionals have been regarded as the most valuable asset of the FTZ Yichang Area that will support long-term regional development. Over the past two years, the area has spared no effort to lure and retain top professionals.

Major reforms assist in boosting region's long-term development

Since February last year, qualified foreigners in the FTZ Yichang Area are no longer required to submit their passports to the Chinese administrative department when applying for visas. According to local officials, the processing time for visa application was seven to 15 days. Some foreigners felt it was inconvenient to not have their passports. The policy applies to high-caliber foreign professionals and their family members, said local officials.

Zhou Yuanlin, a foreign expert from Canada who works in Yichang Humanwell Pharmaceutical, said that Yichang is offering more convenience to foreign professionals.

Zhou, who has been working in China for many years, said he had to apply for a visa every year to stay in China and the application process was complex. Now, it takes half a day to get everything done.

Benefiting from the FTZ Yichang Area's policies, Humanwell Pharmaceutical attracted three overseas returnees to support its development in 2017.

"The three experts will focus on new product development and support the construction of our export center. They will also provide technical support so Humanwell can export products to the United States and European markets," said Yan Tao, deputy Party chief of the company.

By now, the FTZ Yichang Area has established a talent pool with more than 30 national and provincial-level experts. They will support Yichang to develop advanced manufacturing, biomedicine, electronic information and new materials industries.

The FTZ Yichang Area has submitted applications to establish a comprehensive bonded zone to further open up the region. An international freight train service that connected Yichang, Wuhan in Hubei province and Hamburg in Germany was launched at the end of 2017 to support Yichang's plan.