Chief Executive CY Leung attended the launch of the China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone in Nansha today.
In a statement, the Commerce & Economic Development Bureau noted that co-operation between Guangdong and Hong Kong has always been close and it trusts that setting up the free trade zone would further enhance co-operation between the two places and open up room for broader co-operation between the business sectors of Guangdong and Hong Kong, especially in the services sector.
Guangdong leaders including CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee Secretary Hu Chunhua; Guangdong Province Governor Zhu Xiaodan; CPC Shenzhen Municipal Committee Secretary Ma Xingrui; CPC Zhuhai Municipal Committee Secretary Li Jia; and CPC Guangzhou Municipal Committee Secretary Ren Xuefeng attended the ceremony, as did Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Gregory So and Secretary for Development Paul Chan.
The Guangdong free trade zone covers designated areas in Nansha, Qianhai and Hengqin, and is positioned to leverage Hong Kong and Macau, serve the Mainland, reach out globally, develop into an exemplary zone for in-depth co-operation among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, and as an important hub for the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
The zone aims to create an internationalised and market-led business environment with a sound legal framework, establish a new open economic system and achieve in-depth co-operation among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau after three to five years of pilot reforms.
The State Council decided last December to establish three new free trade zones in designated areas of Guangdong, Tianjin and Fujian, and announced the overall plans for the trade zones yesterday.
