Beijing's "Two Zones" construction clarifies over 160 tasks; "New Measures" expand the "New Flow" of opening up to the outside world

(CN) Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, March 30 (Reporter Lü Shaowei) Reporters learned today from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Commerce that the Office of the “Two Zones” (the Office of the Work Leading Group of the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone and the National Comprehensive Demonstration Zone for Expanding Opening-Up of the Service Sector) has recently issued the “Key Points for the Construction of the ‘Two Zones’ in 2026” (hereinafter referred to as the “Key Points”). The document makes arrangements for the construction work of the “Two Zones” in 2026, specifies five aspects with more than 160 tasks in total, and issues lists of key tasks, key policy measures, key projects, and so on in parallel, delivering a task list and timeline for the “Two Zones” construction in 2026. Four key themes are worth looking forward to.

Theme 1: Institutional Opening-Up.

The “Key Points” proposes “adhering to institutional innovation as the core and taking high-level institutional opening-up to lead the development of service-sector opening-up,” and specifies that in 2026, Beijing will formulate and roll out the “14th Five-Year Plan and beyond” period high-level open-oriented economic development plan for Beijing, promote the launch and implementation of the 3.0 plan for the comprehensive demonstration zone for expanding opening-up of the service sector, step up the implementation of the “China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone Upgrading Strategic Action Plan,” actively strive to create a national demonstration zone for innovative development of service trade and a national digital trade demonstration zone, and promote the establishment of a linked development area for the pilot free trade zones.

Expanding opening-up of the service sector is a key link in China’s opening-up to the outside world and also a distinct hallmark of openness in Beijing. As the only national comprehensive demonstration zone for expanding opening-up of the service industry nationwide, Beijing has cumulatively carried out nearly 300 demonstration-zone construction tasks in two rounds that were approved by the State Council. Around promoting reform and opening-up in key areas of the service sector, exploring rules and norms for emerging business models, and optimizing arrangements for trade and investment systems, Beijing has conducted a series of pioneering and first-in-kind explorations. In every prior assessment and evaluation of national pilot demonstration zones for expanding opening-up of the service sector, it has ranked No. 1, contributing “Beijing experience” to building a high-standard institutional framework for opening up the service sector.

“New measures” continue to be transformed into “new incremental outcomes,” expanding “new streams of traffic.” In 2025, Beijing newly established more than 2,400 foreign-invested enterprises, service exports grew year on year by 11%, and both reached historical highs. This has laid a solid foundation for continuously deepening opening-up of the service sector and promoting innovative development of service trade. As an important platform for high-level opening-up, the Beijing Pilot Free Trade Zone has, among the first batch nationwide, carried out pilot programs for docking with international high-standard efforts to advance institutional opening-up, with its demonstration and leading role becoming increasingly stronger. The share of actual utilized foreign capital in the city increased from less than 10% at the time of establishment to over 50% in 2025.

Next, Beijing will implement the pilot free trade zone upgrading strategy at a high standard, and by establishing linked development areas for the pilot free trade zones, better leverage the role of connecting industries inside and outside the zones (pilot free trade zones) and the linkage of factors and elements. Beijing will explore integrated innovation in key industry chains on an even broader scale, and amplify the dividends from the pilot free trade zones.

Theme 2: Dual-Engine Driving.

The “Key Points” proposes “adhering to dual-engine driving of ‘industry + factors,’ and using open innovation to empower high-quality development of the capital’s economy.” It specifies that in 2026, Beijing will further promote expansion-opening pilot programs in areas including value-added telecommunications and medical care, deepen pilot programs for innovations in the trust property registration model, and improve the level of coordinated opening-up for key industries. It will also research and formulate a 3.0 plan for reforms to facilitate cross-border data flows, issue the second batch of negative lists for data export, iterate and upgrade the directory for recognition of international professional qualifications, and continuously strengthen the efficiency benefits of factor coordination.

Beijing is seizing the opportunities of “Two Zones” construction, and continues to lead in expanding opening-up of the service sector. As a city/province among the first batch nationwide to carry out pilot programs for expanding opening-up in areas including value-added telecommunications and medical care, Beijing already has more than 60 enterprises participating in the pilots, including many internationally well-known companies such as Dexh China and Cummins China. The development of service-sector opening-up cannot be achieved without support and保障 from factors such as talent, data, and capital. Previously, Beijing rolled out the country’s first scene-based, field-level negative list for data export in the pilot free trade zones, and issued the first comprehensive reform document on cross-border data flow. The diversity and pass rate of data export have both ranked among the top in the country. Next, Beijing will focus on key areas including medical devices, automated driving (intelligent connected vehicles), trade logistics, and banks, promptly roll out the second batch of negative lists for data export, and push for the lists to apply across the entire city.

Theme 3: Coordinated Linkage of Three Zones.

The “Key Points” proposes “adhering to coordinated linkage among the pilot free trade zone + comprehensive bonded zone + characteristic industrial parks, making the hub of high-level platforms for opening-up stronger and better.” It specifies that in 2026, Beijing will highlight the role of the pilot free trade zone in leading openness, and further build five free-trade-zone brands: “innovation, digital intelligence, green, convenience, and coordination.” It also specifies tasks including exploring and building global innovation-drug “go global” service trading platforms, promoting construction of international (offshore) data centers and other infrastructure, establishing and improving systems for green cost analysis and green price certification, optimizing one-stop service functions at airport service points for “Beijing services,” and implementing the “Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei pilot free trade zones full-industry-chain coordinated innovation action plan,” among others.

At the same time, Beijing will accelerate the enhancement of functions of comprehensive bonded zones. The Tianzhu comprehensive bonded zone will further deepen the construction of an early-stage保障 area for drugs for rare diseases; the comprehensive bonded zone at the Daxing District airport will continuously improve the operating efficiency of the zone-port liaison and communication channel; the Zhongguancun comprehensive bonded zone will explore an enterprise incubation model that combines technology-based property services with investment funds; and the Yizhuang comprehensive bonded zone will guide major projects such as integrated circuits and biopharmaceuticals to enter the zone, building a cluster of high-end bonded processing. Beijing will support and guide various types of characteristic parks—including technology-based and high-end manufacturing parks, finance parks, consumption and culture-tourism parks, and policy-function parks—to enhance quality and efficiency. As important handles for the construction of the “Two Zones,” pilot free trade zones, comprehensive bonded zones, and characteristic industrial parks shoulder the important mission of conducting differentiated exploration and characteristic practices around their functional positioning. They are tasked with accumulating experience for expanding high-level opening-up and building momentum for high-quality development.

Previously, based on their resource endowments, the “three zones” proactively innovated and boldly practiced. By using institutional innovation to clear bottlenecks and cultivate functions, they formed a number of pioneering practices, such as: the construction of the first rare-disease drug保障 early-stage area nationwide in the Tianzhu comprehensive bonded zone. In shortening time, ensuring quantity, and enabling full-process traceability, it further optimized the drug保障 mechanisms for rare-disease drugs and other urgently needed clinical medicines, promoting the shift from “medicines waiting for people” to “people waiting for medicines.” In 2025, imports of rare-disease drugs into the Tianzhu comprehensive bonded zone exceeded 27 billion yuan, ranking No. 1 nationwide by scale.

Theme 4: Promoting Both “Bringing in” and “Going global.”

The “Key Points” proposes “adhering to a results-oriented approach for project landing, and achieving both high-quality ‘bringing in’ and high-level ‘going global.’” It specifies that in 2026, Beijing will attract more new foreign-invested entities to land, expand its global service partner enterprise base, encourage profit reinvestment by foreign-invested enterprises, and focus on shaping new advantages in attracting foreign investment. It will also, around attracting investment by innovating industry chains, scenarios, and carriers in sectors such as artificial intelligence and biopharmaceuticals, improve comprehensive exhibition and conference services, and host major brand events such as the Investment Beijing Conference at high quality, systematically enhancing the internationalization level of investment promotion.

In 2026, Beijing will also build the national import trade promotion innovation demonstration zone at high quality, and actively promote the optimization and upgrading of goods trade. It will push the digital transformation of service outsourcing to enhance the competitiveness of productive services trade and promote innovative development of service trade. It will deepen the construction of the Beijing overseas comprehensive service platform and the Beijing co-built “Belt and Road” Direct Express comprehensive service platform, striving to create the first choice nationwide for comprehensive overseas-services. It will build “China Data Street” at a high standard, accelerate the construction of the Beijing International Legal Services and Commerce Integration Demonstration Zone, and advance the building of a headquarters cluster for international science and technology organizations, among other efforts, to expand the influence of opening-up and innovation platforms.

In 2025, Beijing achieved new breakthroughs in stabilizing foreign trade. Goods exports grew by 3.8%, reaching a historical high, and two-way investment opened up a new situation. The number of newly established foreign-invested enterprises grew year on year by 19.5%, and external economic cooperation developed steadily. In 2026, Beijing will further intensify efforts to implement relevant measures, promote stable foreign trade in terms of scale and optimize structure, expand cooperation on two-way investment, and better use opening-up to promote reform and development. (End)

(Editor: Wen Jing)

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