Qianhai unveils latest opening-up achievements

The Authority of Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone (Qianhai Authority) unveiled Sunday its latest opening-up achievements and seven major platforms under construction to promote the area’s development.

Huang Xiaopeng, executive vice director of Qianhai Authority, released the achievements at a press conference held at the Qianhai International Convention and Exhibition Center.

According to Huang, Qianhai is accelerating building itself into a hub for modern service industry development through several endeavors, including implementing the Qianhai Global Service Providers program, rolling out policies favoring the development of venture capital, financing and leasing, natural gas trade, cross-border e-commerce, tax-related service and high-end think tanks. It has attracted 30 new Fortune 500 companies to invest in Qianhai and introduced the country’s first dual-license bank, the first wholly foreign-owned fund sales company and the first financial holding company in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to settle in Qianhai.

A scene at the press conference held Sunday. Photos by courtesy of the organizer

Qianhai also strives to serve as the “first choice” for Hong Kong people to integrate into the country’s overall development. It has deepened cooperation with its Hong Kong counterparts in 13 fields such as finance, shipping and trade, and has constructed a number of platforms including the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong International Financial Town, Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong International Legal-services District, and Qianhai International Talent Hub.

Qianhai also published nine practical efforts benefiting Hong Kong people’s development in the area. In the first 10 months of this year, the actual use of Hong Kong capital was US$4.638 billion, up by 10.9% annually.

To serve as an experimental platform for innovation and comprehensively deepening reform, Qianhai focuses on institutional innovations to expand the “Qianhai Model” it developed. Recently, Qianhai rolled out another 70 innovation measures, bringing the total number to 755. Among the measures, 72 have been promoted and adopted nationwide. According to the institutional innovation index released by Sun Yat-sen University, Qianhai ranked first among all free trade zones in China.

Qianhai is also speeding up its pace to become a hub for opening up and a new international urban center. From January to October, the import and export volume of Qianhai Comprehensive Bonded Zone reached 188.05 billion yuan (US$26.98 billion), up by 54.9% year on year. Several major events, such as the China International Medical Equipment Fair (CMEF) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Youth Technology and Innovation Forum have chosen Qianhai as the host location, which have strengthened the area’s competitiveness for international cooperation. Qianhai also built two international schools and introduced four medical establishments from Hong Kong and Macao to provide high-end education and medical services and construct a greener, more convenient, safer and smarter urban area through a series of projects such as the Qianhai Stone Park, Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Plaza and National (Shenzhen Qianhai) New-type Internet Exchange Point.

At the event, Qianhai also unveiled the Shenzhen Cross-border Trade Big Data Platform and the six agglomeration zones it is planning to construct, including the agglomeration zones for venture capital, natural gas trade companies, financing and leasing, cross-border e-commerce, tax-related services and high-end think tanks.

A ceremony was held to mark the launching of the Shenzhen Cross-border Trade Big Data Platform and six agglomeration zones.

Yang Buxiang, chairman of Asia-Pacific Pengsheng Finance and Taxation Group, said that Qianhai is home to many high-end industries, which is a huge opportunity for the tax-related service industry.

Wu Haibo, chairman of Shenchuangjian Holdings Group, said, “Qianhai has obvious advantages in terms of its location. After goods from all over China arrive at the Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport, they can be transferred to Hong Kong through Qianhai, and then transported by air around the world. The establishment of a cross-border e-commerce agglomeration zone in Qianhai will connect all the upstream and downstream business forms of the e-commerce industry in the area, and the entire cross-border e-commerce industry in Qianhai will usher in new industrial upgrading and transformation opportunities.”