As a “test field” for China in comprehensively deepening reform and opening up, Qianhai has demonstrated robust development momentum since it was established 12 years ago, especially since the Plan for Comprehensive Deepening Reform and Opening Up of the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone (Qianhai Plan) was issued by the Central Government on Sept. 6 last year.

In the past year, all of Qianhai’s major economic indicators achieved continued growth and a series of new reform and opening up measures were rolled out.

In the first half of this year, Qianhai’s GDP reached 82.11 billion yuan (US$11.8 billion), up by 2.6% year on year, and the actual use of foreign capital in the area was US$3.53 billion, rising 17.4% year on year, according to the Qianhai Authority.

So far, Qianhai has rolled out 725 institutional innovations in the fields of investment, trade, finance and rule of law, among which 65 have been duplicated for use nationwide.

Last year, Qianhai expanded the 15% favorable corporate income tax (CIT) rate policy to cover about 12,000 new Qianhai-registered enterprises engaging in commercial services.

Qualified enterprises engaged in encouraged industries in Qianhai are able to enjoy a reduced CIT rate of 15% — lower than China’s national CIT rate of 25%.

“Infrastructure projects feature heavy investment and long payback period,” said Fan Zhiyong, vice president of Shenzhen International Holdings Co. Ltd., which is engaged in logistics infrastructure in Qianhai. “However, the preferential tax policy makes us more confident in achieving our investment expectations and in making greater contributions to Qianhai’s tax revenue.”

The financial and legal sectors are two major fields for Qianhai’s further opening up.

Last year, Qianhai was chosen as one of the first batch of places to pilot the country’s integrated capital pool of domestic and foreign currencies for multinational corporations.

Hong King’s Dah Sing Bank, the first overseas bank that has obtained both a branch bank license and a subsidiary bank license on the Chinese mainland, announced it will set up a branch in Qianhai that is directly subordinate to its Hong Kong headquarters.

Harold Wong Tsu-hing, vice chairman of Dah Sing Bank, said that after Qianhai Plan’s release, various supporting policies have been enacted and implemented one after another, making Qianhai more attractive to Hong Kong and foreign-funded banks.

“In the future, the bank will make full use of Qianhai’s advantages in cross-border finance, continue to optimize its cross-border product portfolio and provide quality services to customers on the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macao,” he said.

This January, the Supreme People’s Court issued an opinion to instruct and safeguard Qianhai’s reform and opening up in the legal sector. In the same month, the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong International Legal-services District officially started operation, which has attracted 122 legal institutions to settle. Among all the 15 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao joint law firms in Guangdong Province, seven have opened branches or offices in Qianhai.

The Primary People’s Court of Qianhai Cooperation Zone (Qianhai Court) has appointed 32 Hong Kong jurors and 16 mediators from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and foreign countries to hear cases and mediate disputes. The number of cases tried by the Qianhai Court pursuant to Hong Kong laws topped all grassroots courts in the country.

The cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong has also yielded fruitful results in Qianhai.

Qianhai joined hands with the Treasury Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government on Friday to release 18 measures boosting the joint development of venture capital industries in Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

In June, Qianhai published nine practices benefiting Hong Kong individuals and companies in terms of housing, entrepreneurship, employment, sci-tech innovation, finance, settlement and people’s livelihood, and more.

Last December, Qianhai signed several memorandums of cooperation with the Hong Kong Chinese Enterprises Association, Hong Kong Chinese Importers and Exporters’ Association, and Hong Kong Commerce and Industry Associations at a conference, which marked Qianhai establishing cooperative relations with all major Hong Kong and Macao business associations.

The north part of Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Youth Innovation and Entrepreneur Hub (E-hub) was put into use in July, providing another 92,000 square meters of space for young entrepreneurs. A total of 335 Hong Kong startups have been incubated in the E-hub. Under its monthly talent recruitment program launched last January, Qianhai now has provided 4,104 job positions for Hong Kong and Macao youths.

The efforts have achieved positive results.

So far this year, the number of individuals paying personal income tax in Qianhai has reached 965,000, surging by 29.7% year on year. After the Qianhai International Talent Hub started operation in January, a growing number of high-end talents have been attracted to work in Qianhai. The hub also joined hands with corporations such as Boston Consulting Group and Ernst & Young to hold 85 events, including training classes for enterprise executives.