City's free trade zone serves as a center for industries and promotion of Belt and Road Initiative trade goals, Zhuan Ti reports.

The Chengdu International Railway Port, part of the China (Sichuan) Pilot Free Trade Zone, is the backbone of the region's plan to establish a global logistics system and booming trade with countries along the route of the Belt and Road Initiative, a local official said.

Located at the junction of China's Silk Road and Yangtze River economic belts, the 9.68-square-kilometer port in the free trade zone focuses on services, including collecting and transporting international goods, bonded logistics storage, international freight forwarding and financing. It also focuses on modern services such as information, technology and exhibition.

"To promote the country's Belt and Road Initiative and strengthen the city's economic ties with countries along the route, the port aims to be an international hub for logistics, trade and industries," said Deng Xianhua, an official of the administrative committee of the port.

He added the port will improve the global competitiveness of pillar industries under the initiative and enlarge international and domestic logistics services in the next few years.

"Opening-up is a prerequisite for developing the free trade zone and our responsibility is to expand markets, improve the economic system and construct a legal business environment for enterprises," he said.

The 119.99-sq-km free trade zone, launched on April 1, covers areas of Chengdu Tianfu New Area, Chengdu International Railway Port and the southern port area of Sichuan province. By the end of February, the throughput of the Chengdu Railway Container Center Station in the zone had added up to 2.83 million twenty-foot equivalent units.

Earlier this month, the FTZ Chengdu International Railway Port Government Service Hall Single Window area was put into operation.

It aims to further advance international trade by simplifying administrative approval processes and creating a business-friendly environment.

Covering an area of 19,000 square meters, the area offers one-stop services for enterprises in two aspects: administrative approval and trade. To improve efficiency and lower costs, it opens one-to-one windows categorized by business registration, tax and investment.

"The area has integrated a series of administrative resources such as commerce, tax, marketing, planning and construction.

"We will later optimize online services for enterprises and cooperate with institutes covering areas such as customs, tax, national inspection, foreign exchange and banks, to facilitate international trade and backup service industries," Deng said.

Chengdu's trade in services industries have reported significant growth over the past few years, due to strong government support and market demand.

Lyu Yuan, director of the Chengdu commission of commerce's trade in services department, said the city's average year-on-year growth in service sector's added value reached 10.3 percent during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-15), surpassing the national average by two percentage points.

"The city is taking a leading role in trade in services in central and western China," Lyu said.

Last year, local businesses reported $1.49 billion in revenue from o@ - shore outsourcing service projects.

The city established 13 public service platforms to support 100 o@ shore outsourcing projects in 2016.

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(China Daily European Weekly 05/12/2017 page27)