On August 24, Haidian District held a press conference on the first anniversary of the construction of the Integrated National Demonstration Zone for Opening up the Services Sector and China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone ("Two Zones" for short). This conference went over the progress and results of the development of the "Two Zones" in Haidian over the past year.

In the past year, Haidian District has seen the signing of 7 batches of major projects (amounting to 67 in total), and steady progress of 18 new digital infrastructure projects underway. Diversified innovation entities have joined forces to accelerate the construction of the "Two Zones" within the district, providing a strong impetus in regards to science and technology innovation.

From January to July 2021, the actual utilization of foreign investment in Haidian District reached USD 4.094 billion (about CNY 26.45 billion), accounting for 39.63 percent of the city's total amount. The export trade value amounted to CNY 72.05 billion, accounting for 24.6 percent of the city's figure. Both the utilization of foreign investment and export trade value ranked first in Beijing. Overall 1,206 new businesses registered in the Haidian Cluster of China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone.

At the beginning of 2021, Haidian District officially issued the Work Plan of Haidian District for the Construction of the "Two Zones" and the Implementation Plan for Haidian Cluster of the Sci-tech Innovation Area of China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone to further strengthen the list-based management of policies, space, and projects, and to promote policy and project implementation.

Since the start of the construction of the "Two Zones", Haidian Cluster has taken the lead in coordinating the construction of the digital trading port as well as 84 other key tasks (in line with 68 tasks at the municipal level) among the 251 institutional innovation tasks in Beijing's construction of the "Two Zones". It has carried out 66 tasks, or 78.5 percent of the listed tasks, including the policy regarding the upgraded plan for overseas talents, the establishment of a collaborative intellectual property protection system, the construction of an offshore innovation center, and the implementation of preferential policy on income tax for technology transfer, etc.

Moving forward, Haidian District will continue to support the construction of the "Two Zones", further promote the high-level institutional opening up, and align itself to the highest standards. It will further improve the policy system and promote the implementation of advanced and pilot policies as well as projects that are groundbreaking, influential and leading. Finally, it will build the "Haidian model" of opening up, and strive to create a world-class innovation ecosystem.

(Note: Content source is from Beijing Youth Daily)