Tempo de leitura: 3 minutos<\/small><\/p>
Xi hailed his government\u2019s free-trade zone (FTZ) policy as a \u201cmilestone\u201d for a \u201cnew era\u201d of reform in a message to a high-level forum marking the fifth anniversary of the opening of the country\u2019s first FTZ in Shanghai.<\/p>\n
Ahead of his tour of southern China, there had been hopes that the trip \u2013 held 40 years after the country embarked on its economic reforms \u2013 might provide some indication of new efforts to liberalise the economy and support an ailing private sector.\u00a0But while Xi visited two parts of the Guangdong free-trade zone \u2013 Hengqin in Zhuhai and Qianhai in Shenzhen, official reports provided no such news.<\/p>\n
In contrast, at the Shanghai forum, which was attended by members of the party\u2019s Politburo and featured heavily on the main evening news reports, Xi gave a glowing endorsement of the policy in absentia.\u00a0\u201cThe development of FTZs is a strategic move by the party\u2019s central leadership to advance reform and opening up in the new era,\u201d he was quoted as saying. \u201cIt is a milestone during reform and opening up of our nation.\u201d<\/p>\n
China has 12 free-trade zones across the country, with the latest opening in Hainan in April.\u00a0The areas are intended as testing grounds for local authorities to experiment with policies to support businesses and attract foreign investment with fewer restrictions. Once tested and approved, the principles and ideas can be rolled out across the country or wherever they are deemed useful.<\/p>\n
For instance, the concept of the \u201cnegative list\u201d \u2013 which details sectors that are closed or only partially open to foreign investors \u2013 was first tested in the Shanghai free-trade zone but is now used in FTZs around China.\u00a0The introduction of the list means that in FTZs foreign investors no longer have to work their way through lengthy government approval procedures in sectors not covered by it.<\/p>\n
Lin Jiang, a professor at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, said Xi\u2019s visit to Hengqin and Qianhai was a \u201chigh affirmation\u201d for the concept of free-trade zones.\u00a0\u201cAlthough China\u2019s FTZs have not been around that long, they could be the symbol of reform and opening up for the next 40 years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In contrast, the special economic zones created by paramount leader Deng Xiaoping in the late 1970s as a way to trial controlled capitalism in a planned economy had become outdated, he said.\u00a0\u201cToday, it is very hard for special economic zones to attract foreign investment with only favourable policies such as tax incentives and cheap rents,\u201d he said. \u201cMoreover, the cutthroat competition that exists between them can actually lead to the government losing tax revenue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Based in Shenzhen, which was now a thriving manufacturing hub for electronics and gadgets, meant Qianhai was perfectly placed as a testing ground for financial innovation, such as supply chain finance and finance leasing, Lin said.\u00a0While there was no indication of any new reforms during Xi\u2019s trip, the choice of each of his destinations appeared to be loaded with meaning.<\/p>\n
For example, his visit on Monday to a hi-tech industrial estate in Zhuhai and Gree Electric Appliances, a leading home appliances manufacturer, was likely meant to show his support for private entrepreneurs, many of whom have shifted their factories and wealth abroad out of fears of a deteriorating business climate and inadequate protection of private property.<\/p>\n
Likewise, on Tuesday, Xi officiated at the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, which Beijing sees as an important vehicle for further integration in the Greater Bay Area.\u00a0And his visit to the impoverished backwaters of Yingde, where he pledged that \u201cno one would be left behind\u201d, was a clear reminder that fighting poverty would remain a top policy priority for Beijing.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday afternoon, Xi also visited an old district of Guangzhou, the Guangdong capital, and inquired about cultural heritage protection works, after which he visited Jinan University, which was the first to welcome overseas students of Chinese descent after the country opened up to the West four decades ago.<\/p>\n
Leia mais<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 3 minutos<\/small> Xi hailed his government\u2019s free-trade zone (FTZ) policy as a \u201cmilestone\u201d for a \u201cnew era\u201d of reform in a message to a high-level forum marking the fifth anniversary of the opening of the country\u2019s first FTZ in Shanghai. Ahead of his tour of southern China, there had been hopes that the trip \u2013 held 40 years after the country embarked on its economic reforms \u2013 might provide some indication of new efforts to liberalise the economy and support an ailing private sector.\u00a0But Continue lendo<\/span>\u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1257,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["entry","author-adm_hb2018","post-2481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-noticias"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2481"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2482,"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2481\/revisions\/2482"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abrazpe.org.br\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}