PR96140

CHONGQING, May 23, 2022 /Xinhua=KYODO JBN/--

In mid-May, a press conference was held to introduce Chongqing's first annual

report on the Comprehensive Pilot Program for Service Sector Opening.

Chongqing is located in China's western region which is home to 400 million

people and one of the country's most promising areas. Statistics showed that

the total value of Chongqing's foreign trade has grown from 53.2 billion US

dollars in 2012 to over 120 billion in 2021, setting a record high, according

to Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce. In recent years, Chongqing has

been approved to implement pilot projects of FTZ, comprehensve innovative

development of trade in services, service sector opening and international

consumption central city.

As one of the five provincial-level regions in China and the only one in

central and western China which has been added to the Comprehensive Pilot

Program for Service Sector Opening, Chongqing has been focusing on building

inland modern service industry development pilot zone, strengthening top-level

design and system integration, and making steady progress in sevice sector

opening since it has been approved as a pilot city in this regard.

After one year's innovative practice and reform exploration, Chongqing has

implemented 69 (82%) items out of the 86 tasks in the Overall Planning for

Chongqing's Service Sector Opening approved by the State Council. More than 40

pioneering reform explorations have been carried out, and 356 modern service

industry projects have been set up, driving forward the high-quality

development of service industry and Chongqing as a pacesetter of inland

opening-up.

In the past year, Chongqing has expanded and opened up its service industry in

key areas such as science and technology, trade and cultural tourism,

education, finance, health care, data, rule of law, talents, investment

facilitation, logistics and customs clearance etc.

For example, in the field of science and technology, pilot projects have been

carried out to grant researchers the ownership or long-term right of use of

their scientific and technological achievements. In the financial sector, the

QDLP pilot program was implemented and cross-border financing for science and

technology enterprieses and exchange rate hedging services come true. In the

field of logistics customs clearance, Chongqing has pioneered customs

supervision mode of bonded aviation materials with each airline as one

supervision unit. In the field of commerce, culture and tourism, innovative

pilot projects have been carried out to display and trade imported commodities.

Due to a series of institutional innovations, a number of opening-up dividends

have gradually emerged. Chongqing now ranks first in the number of new R&D

institutions in the west of China, has become the only national logistics hub

city covering water, land and air transport in China, and has built the Western

China Data Exchange Center. China(Chongqing)-Singapore Cancer Hospital, the

city's first Sino-foreign joint venture non-profit medical institution, is now

in operation. The New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor International

Consumption Center, a bonded trade exhibition center, has been established.

Chongqing's first Sino-foreign cooperative vocational school and three

Chinese-foreign cooperatively-run schools have been set up.

The opening of service industry has also become an important driver for

optimizing the business environment. Chongqing has optimized the

complaint-handling mechanism for foreign-invested enterprises, innovated the

customs tax guarantee mode, and refined the intellectual property protection

and litigation mechanism. It also established a fast track for foreign talents,

expanded the application of cross-border financial blockchain service platform,

and initiated convenient services such as online foreign exchange collection

and payment, service trade settlement business and smart customs declaration

system. All these efforts make Chongqing's business environment more

market-oriented, law-based and global-oriented.

Source: Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce