In order to promote the Ningbo area of Zhejiang Pilot Free Trade Zone to implement the decisions and deployment of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee and the provincial government, and create a characteristic "hub free trade zone" with high standards and quality, the "Ningbo hub free trade zone construction symposium" was held in Ningbo from November 26 to November 27, sponsored by the the Belt and Road International Think Tank of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Management Committee of Ningbo Economic and Technological Development Zone, and hosted by Landi International Think Tank.
Li Guanding, member of the Party Leadership Group and Vice Mayor of Ningbo Municipal Government, attended the seminar and delivered a speech. Xi Ming, member of the Party Leadership Group of the Municipal Government, director of the Management Committee of Ningbo Economic and Technological Development Zone and deputy secretary of the Party Working Committee, Zhang Yan, director of Ningbo Municipal Bureau of Commerce and director of the Municipal Free Trade Office, Pan Qunwei, deputy director of the Management Committee of Ningbo Economic and Technological Development Zone, heads of relevant departments of the Management Committee of Ningbo Economic and Technological Development Zone, and many experts from Randy International Think Tank in the fields of digital economy, regional development, trade and logistics attended the seminar.
At the meeting, Zhang Yan first gave a brief report on the strategic concept of building a "hub free trade zone" in Ningbo. Under the strong leadership of the Ningbo Municipal Party Committee and the Ningbo Municipal Government, the Ningbo Area of Zhejiang Pilot Free Trade Zone has been listed for two years, actively implementing the decision-making and deployment of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee and the provincial government, focusing on institutional innovation, adhering to the market demand as the traction, project construction as the support, and opening and enabling as the driving force, and steadily advancing various construction tasks.
In order to better implement the "Implementation of the Promotion Strategy of the Pilot Free Trade Zone" of the "Twentieth National Congress" and the spirit of the Party Congress of Zhejiang Province and Ningbo City, and focus on the construction of an international open hub city, Ningbo District has put forward the idea of building a "hub free trade zone", that is, to grasp the main line of building an international open hub city and formulate the characteristic functional positioning of "four hubs and two highlands", Strive to build a "hub free trade zone" with "good global accessibility, excellent internal and external connectivity, strong resource allocation, and high integration and innovation", and strive to build a free trade port with bulk commodity characteristics and a core function carrier of Zhejiang Free Trade Zone.
The experts at the meeting listened to the Research Report on International Trade in Bulk Commodities and Industrial Agglomeration of the Service Industry, and held a warm discussion on the construction of Ningbo Hub Free Trade Zone and the development of bulk commodity trade and service industry. When talking about the positioning of Ningbo area, think tank experts said that Ningbo area should actively take the lead, carry out the application practice of trade rules, and lay the foundation for China's subsequent docking with the world's advanced free trade agreements. The construction of Ningbo District should be promoted together from the aspects of deepening reform, expanding opening up, promoting innovation, etc., and strive to solve the shortcomings in service trade since China's reform and opening up. Compared with trade in goods, service trade has the characteristics of high added value. Ningbo District will take innovation in the development mechanism of service trade as an important part of its future work to promote the high-quality development of service trade.
Focusing on the upgrading and development of Ningbo's advantageous intelligent manufacturing industry, the experts at the meeting focused on the promotion and application of the industrial Internet, and suggested that the specialized, new and invisible champion enterprises in the intelligent manufacturing industry should be further expanded to build a highland of industrial Internet data and technology development. For building a logistics hub, on the basis of obvious port advantages, Ningbo can strengthen the logistics capacity of airports and railways, gradually improve passenger traffic, freight traffic, international routes, high-speed rail routes, etc., and strive to build an open and smooth international port and shipping logistics hub.
After discussion, experts agreed that creating the characteristic label of "hub free trade zone" will help Ningbo to continuously attract investment, trade, finance, logistics, figures and personnel, and will greatly promote regional economic development.
Li Guanding expressed his thanks to the experts of Randy International Think Tank for their advice and suggestions. He pointed out that the construction of Ningbo as a "hub free trade zone" has a profound strategic background and great strategic significance. Ningbo has comprehensive advantages such as port hard core, bulk trade, cross-border trade, intelligent manufacturing, and financial innovation, which are unique in Zhejiang Province. The Ningbo area of Zhejiang Pilot Free Trade Zone must give full play to these advantages.
He said that next, we should further define the functional orientation of the "hub free trade zone", grasp the main tasks, focus on the core characteristics of "connectivity, accessibility, smoothness and integration", and strive to build a "hub free trade zone with good global accessibility, excellent internal and external connectivity, strong resource allocation, and high integration and innovation", so as to provide solid support for the construction of a modern coastal metropolis and make greater contributions to the overall opening up of the whole country and the whole province.
During the meeting, experts from Randy International think tank and their delegation also systematically investigated the representative enterprises in the Free Trade Zone, inspected the construction of characteristic projects in the Free Trade Zone on the spot, and conducted in-depth exchanges with the enterprise leaders on the operation, business layout, trade policy application and other related work of the enterprises. Later, they will continue to provide advice and suggestions for the improvement of the action plan for the construction of the hub free trade zone.
