On April 10, the Information Office of Liaoning Provincial People’s Government held a press conference to provide updates on the construction and development of the China (Liaoning) Pilot Free Trade Zone, celebrating its seventh anniversary of operation.

Over the past seven years, the China (Liaoning) Pilot Free Trade Zone has launched a total of 207 reform and innovation achievements, with 16 of them being replicated and promoted nationwide. As of now, the number of newly registered enterprises has surpassed 100,000, with registered capital exceeding 2 trillion yuan. The cumulative utilization of foreign capital has reached 4.99 billion US dollars, achieving an average annual growth rate of 10.5% in tax revenue and 12.9% in fixed asset investment.

The China (Liaoning) Pilot Free Trade Zone is committed to enhancing its opening-up and actively playing a leading role in the establishment of a new frontier of opening-up. In the Shenyang Area, the cargo charter flights to Los Angeles have been fully restored, and a route to Chicago has been opened, ensuring full coverage of air cargo transportation to North America. In the Dalian Area, the construction of the country’s first RCEP-themed international business district is underway, promoting new models of transit and sea-land interconnection for commodity vehicles in Northeast Asia. Additionally, new customs supervision models such as “direct clearance between zones and ports” and “multi-point consolidation” for China Railway Express are being implemented, contributing to the development of the Northeast Sea-Land Corridor. The Yingkou Area Foreign Trade (Cross-border) Comprehensive Service Industrial Park has officially commenced operation, with over 120 foreign trade enterprises having already settled in. In 2023, the China (Liaoning) Pilot Free Trade Zone attracted 163 projects with investments exceeding 100 million yuan, with a total contract value of 45.18 billion yuan. It achieved a total import and export volume of 126.43 billion yuan, accounting for 16.5% of the province’s total, and the actual utilization of foreign capital reached 740 million US dollars, accounting for 21.9% of the province’s total.

This year, the China (Liaoning) Pilot Free Trade Zone will further demonstrate its leading role, consolidating the foundation of economic and trade cooperation with RCEP countries and regions such as Japan, South Korea, and ASEAN. It will focus on developing an airport industry system in the Shenyang Area and enhancing coordination with the China-German Industrial Park. Leveraging the advantages of the Dalian Area in opening-up, the zone will deepen economic and trade cooperation with Japan and South Korea, and promote cooperation with Russia in the Yingkou Area, exploring the construction of a demonstration zone for processing trade transformation and upgrading between China and Russia.