The newly established China (Inner Mongolia) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) will deepen the integrated development with neighboring countries and serve the building of the community with a shared future with neighboring countries by leveraging the unique advantages of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, a government official said in Beijing on Friday.
As China's 23rd pilot FTZ, the new zone is designed to leverage Inner Mongolia's role as a key bridgehead for the country's opening up to the north. It aims to be developed into a high-level FTZ within three to five years, featuring streamlined investment and trade, a robust innovation ecosystem, competitive industrial clusters, and vibrant international exchanges.
Speaking at a State Council policy briefing, He Yongqian, the person in charge of the Department of Pilot Free Trade Zone and Free Trade Port Construction Coordination of the Ministry of Commerce, said Inner Mongolia is an important node in the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor, and the plan supports the new pilot FTZ in north China's Inner Mongolia in deepening integrated development with neighboring countries.
"The overall plan supports the new pilot FTZ in further leveraging its geographical advantages, improving the comprehensive service efficiency of the China-Europe Railway Express, route networks, and port customs clearance, and proposes measures such as adding broad-gauge direct railway from Erenhot to Ulaanbaatar, so as to further enhance transport support capacity for opening up to the north and transform corridor traffic into economic growth," He said.
In addition, the pilot FTZ will strengthen cooperation in the areas of trade and investment. The plan supports the pilot FTZ in strengthening cross-border cooperation in areas such as the import of products and quarantine and inspection, promoting the high-quality upgrading of trade.
In the field of investment, the plan supports relaxed restrictions on foreign investment in key areas such as healthcare and tourism, and expansion of new space for international cooperation in green development, the digital economy, agriculture, and others.
Also, the plan proposes the introduction of premium international sports events, promoting the deep integration of sports such as wrestling and archery with cross-border tourism, supports interconnection of cross-border mobile payment between China and Mongolia, as well as supports the development of more foreign-related commercial medical insurance products. These measures aim to further enhance service levels, expand the scale of trade in services, and unlock the potential of service consumption.
Under the overall plan, the pilot FTZ spans a total of 119.74 square kilometers across three designated zones: 76.28 square kilometers in the regional capital Hohhot, 25.11 square kilometers in the inland port of Manzhouli, and 18.35 square kilometers in the inland port of Erenhot.
China had earlier established 22 pilot FTZs in areas including Shanghai, Guangdong, Liaoning, Hainan, Shandong and Beijing. The previous addition was the China (Xinjiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone in 2023.
China's newly established Inner Mongolia pilot FTZ to deepen integrated development with neighboring countries: official
