The Dream Factory of China

A series of indexes that show the improvement of the trading and business environment in the Qianhai-Shekou area of the Guangdong Pilot Free Trade Zone (Qianhai-Shekou area) were released yesterday, a day before the 2nd anniversary of inaugurating the Qianhai-Shekou area.

Financial index
According to a report released by the Qianhai Institute for Innovation Research, the Qianhai Cross-border Financial Index (QCFI) had been growing rapidly in the first three quarters last year and reached its highest point, at 5,987, in the third quarter, up by 26.4 percent compared with a year ago.
The QCFI consists of three sub-indexes — regional economy development index, financial environment index and cross-border transaction index, which represent the major driving forces of Qianhai’s cross-border financial development.
The regional economy development index climbed steadily last year and hit its highest point, at 7,916, in the fourth quarter, showing the huge potential of Qianhai’s real economy.
The financial environment index also increased last year, but its growth slowed down in the fourth quarter, due to the fluctuation of revenue in the financial industry.
However, the index’s upward trend shows that Qianhai’s financial environment is still appealing to financial companies.
The cross-border transaction index dropped to 6,109 in the fourth quarter, after growing of the first three quarters last year, due to the uncertainty in the global economic situation and the fluctuation of the RMB’s exchange rate over the past year.
However, the number of companies registered in Qianhai by foreign-funded enterprises soared by 11.5 percent in the fourth quarter last year, according to the report.

Trading convenience
A report showing the trading convenience index in the Qianhai-Shekou area was released by the Sun Yat-sen University’s Institute for Free Trade Zone Research yesterday. The index reached 0.8515 last year, up by 5.85 percent compared with 2015.
Four sub-indexes showing the Qianhai-Shekou area’s port management, customs clearance environment, trade structure transformation and the Qianhai-Shekou area’s positive influence on neighboring areas all went up last year, according to the report.
The reform of customs clearance policies in the Qianhai-Shekou area has enhanced the efficiency of going through customs procedures for enterprises. The average customs clearance period has been shortened from two-to-three working days before the Qianhai-Shekou area was launched to the current six-to-eight hours.

Reform highlights
Another report released by PwC yesterday showed that the Qianhai-Shekou area had introduced a total of 208 reform and innovative measures over the past two years, including 67 pioneering measures in the country.
For instance, the Qianhai-Shekou area has allowed overseas investors to participate in carbon trading in Shenzhen and introduced China’s first on-site arbitration system for conciliating international business disputes.
There were over 50,000 financial companies registered in the Qianhai-Shekou area, outpacing the number of financial companies registered in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone.