April 1.When China(Henan)Pilot Free Trade Zone is officially established,Henan Pilot Free Trade Zone(hereinafter referred to as“Henan Free Trade Zone”)will have its strategic targets,positioning,functional division officially released.

Centering on the building of a modern integrated transport hub serving“The Belt and Road”,Henan will deliver a good performance in strengthening its function as a hub,making a big push to develop multimodal transport,speeding up the simplification of customs clearance procedures and the development of pivotal economy…these are the key directions in which Henan Free Trade Zone should put efforts.In these directions,what changes will take place when Henan Free Trade Zone is successfully established and put into operation?

According to some analysis, Henan will meet a big wave of policy-related bonuses for economic development:streamlined administrative services,economic management decentralization;lowered thresholds for foreign investment,and convenience of“going out”

In my opinion,apart from the above bonuses,the free trade zone will bring about deeper development advantages.

First of all,the areas of reform get wider. The free trade zone turns from a pilot free trade zone in a narrow sense into a pilot comprehensive reform zone.Therefore,both the scope and the contents of reform are wider. Henan Free Trade Zone,in particular,takes on not only the task of spreading relevant successful practices of the first and second batches of free trade zones,but also the new tasks of exploration into,including guidance of the transformation and development of inland economy.

In addition,the range of linkage becomes broader. Take Henan Free Trade Zone as example.According to the programs released this time and the relevant documents launched by the State Council before, Henan Free Trade Zone will be coordinated with the national strategies like“The Belt and Road”,“the Rise of Central China Plan”,etc.,and with Shanghai Free Trade Zone.The free trade zone now has formed a“137”flying-geese development model,which will strengthen and accelerate Henan’s multi-faceted development linkage.

Third,the level of opening up is higher. In my opinion,according to the programs of Henan Free Trade Zone,not only the areas opened for foreign investment will become more,but also the openness and transparency will further increase,and the forms of cooperation will get more diverse.This new stage of opening up matches better Henan’s goals of quality improvement,transformation,upgrading and development.

Forth,the development and transformation of industries are more precise. Featuring more precision,Henan Freed Trade Zone’s programs are more aligned with the development level and transformation direction of Henan.Active development of the high-end manufacturing sector and modern service sector,especially stressed in the programs,will give new impetus to Henan’s quality improvement,transportation,upgrading and development.

With the establishment of Henan Free Trade Zone,the 11 free trade zones nationwide jointly form a new all-round,high-level opening-up pattern balancing the East,Middle and West zones and coordinating development of land and sea.Every free trade zone has its own core goal.Closely centering on“The Belt and Road”,Henan needs to create an industrial system serving the integrated transport hub of“The Belt and Road”,in addition to building a modern integrated transport hub serving“The Belt and Road”.

The programs assigned a particular task to Henan Free Trade Zone:driving industrial development by logistics development and building overseas economic and trade cooperation parks along the routes of“The Belt and Road”.The core goal indicates the development direction for China(Henan)Free Trade Zone.Henan will play a more important role in“The Belt and Road”,so that there will be much more experience awaiting exploration and innovation in this respect.