Research on the overall plan for the Hebei Free Trade Zone has been initiated.

On April 26, Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Gao Feng stated at a regular press conference that, as the office of the inter-ministerial joint meeting on the State Council's pilot free trade zones, the Ministry of Commerce will work with Hebei Province and relevant departments to expedite research on the overall plan.

“We will take reform and opening up as the fundamental driving force for the development of the Xiong'an New Area, use the free trade zone as a carrier, strive to pioneer trials in key areas and crucial links, and take the lead in achieving breakthroughs. We will work to form a batch of replicable and promotable experiences to provide a demonstration for the whole country, and strive to build the Xiong'an New Area into a new highland of reform and opening up in the new era,” Gao Feng said.

Promoting Opening Up through the Free Trade Zone

Hebei has shown great enthusiasm for the free trade zone.

Shortly after the establishment of China's first pilot free trade zone, the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, in February 2014, Hebei Province submitted the “Request for Instructions on Establishing the Caofeidian Free Trade Pilot Zone” to the State Council, but ultimately no follow-up occurred.

In March 2017, the Tianjin Binhai New Area and the Caofeidian District of Tangshan City, Hebei Province, officially signed a regional cooperation agreement to deepen cooperation and jointly advance the application for the Caofeidian area of the Tianjin Free Trade Zone.

However, with the establishment of the Xiong'an New Area in April 2017, the promotion of the Hebei Free Trade Zone began to enter the “fast lane.”

During the 2018 National “Two Sessions,” the Hebei delegation, in the name of the entire delegation, submitted the “Proposal on Establishing the China (Hebei) Pilot Free Trade Zone” and reported it to the Secretariat of the Congress in accordance with legal procedures and the requirements of the Congress.

The Hebei delegation proposed establishing the China (Hebei) Pilot Free Trade Zone with the Xiong'an New Area as the core and Zhengding New Area and Caofeidian District as the north and south wings. The implementation scope covers the Xiong'an area, Zhengding area, and Caofeidian area, with a planned area of 120 square kilometers.

The recently released “Hebei Xiong'an New Area Planning Outline” (hereinafter referred to as the “Outline”) supports the establishment of the China (Hebei) Pilot Free Trade Zone with the Xiong'an New Area as the core, the construction of Sino-foreign government cooperation projects (parks) and comprehensive bonded zones, substantial cancellation or reduction of foreign investment access restrictions, full implementation of the pre-establishment national treatment plus negative list management model, and better use of opening up to promote reform and development.

Among them, the financial reform pilot, one of the key tasks of each free trade zone, is highlighted in the planning of the Xiong'an New Area and may become one of the key areas and crucial links for “pioneering trials” in the Hebei Free Trade Zone.

To this end, the “Outline” proposes supporting the Xiong'an New Area to base itself on local realities, take the lead in carrying out financial innovation or financial pilot demonstration work serving the real economy in relevant fields, promote major financial projects such as national-level trading platforms to pioneer trials, and support new measures for the opening up of the financial sector to be implemented in the new area.

How to Differentiate from the Tianjin Free Trade Zone

Multiple interviewees stated that how to achieve differentiated development from Beijing, Tianjin, and especially the Tianjin Free Trade Zone is an issue that needs to be considered in the future development of the Hebei Free Trade Zone.

Bai Ming, deputy director of the Institute of International Markets at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce, told the 21st Century Business Herald that with the Xiong'an New Area, built on a “blank sheet of paper,” as the core, the Hebei Free Trade Zone is a good carrier for building a higher-level collaboration platform for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

Bai Ming believes that the Xiong'an New Area focuses on cutting-edge technology industries such as artificial intelligence, information security, quantum technology, and supercomputing, which can complement the Tianjin Pilot Free Trade Zone with differentiated division of labor and benign interaction, and will play a greater role in the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Compared with other established pilot free trade zones, the Hebei Free Trade Zone with the Xiong'an New Area as its core has greater planning freedom, can better carry out industrial planning and layout in line with the positioning of the Xiong'an New Area and the pilot free trade zone, and will have greater room for reform and experimentation in its access mechanisms, list management, and other aspects.

During the National “Two Sessions,” Tianjin Mayor Zhang Guoqing revealed at the media open day of the Tianjin delegation that Tianjin is actively applying for a “Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Free Trade Port.”

Zhang Guoqing stated that Tianjin will increase the intensity of institutional innovation in the Tianjin Pilot Free Trade Zone and actively apply for a “Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Free Trade Port.” This free trade port is not only Tianjin's free trade port but also serves the entire Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and is an opening-up platform for the entire Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.