Guangdong FTZs drive decade of trade innovation

Over the past decade, Guangdong's pilot free trade zones (FTZs) have been key in advancing the southern province's high-level opening up and high-quality development.

According to Guangdong Customs, these zones have introduced 68 innovative customs supervision systems, a third of the province's total replicable reforms, increasing the scale of the foreign trade industry within the FTZs.

These systems, now implemented across the province, cover a wide range of areas, including streamlined customs clearance, bonded logistics, cross-border e-commerce, processing trade, inspection and quarantine.

Liu Yang, a senior officer with Guangdong Customs, noted that these innovations had facilitated efficient cross-border flows, strengthened regulatory alignment in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and supported high-quality development in key economic hubs.

In 2025, Guangdong marks the 10th anniversary of its FTZs, which include Nansha in Guangzhou, Qianhai in Shenzhen and Hengqin in Zhuhai.

Recent data from Guangdong Customs shows robust performance in 2024, with the FTZs' foreign trade volume reaching 749.39 billion yuan ($105.55 billion), a 25.6 percent year-on-year increase. This accounted for 8.2 percent of Guangdong's total trade, contributing 1.8 percentage points to the province's overall foreign trade growth.