How Do New Free Trade Policies Empower Regional Development? This Training Session in TEDA Has the Answer

On the afternoon of August 29, TEDA held the Q3 training session on free trade at Baoxin Building. Organized by the TEDA Steering Office of Investment Promotion, the training invited relevant officials from the TEDA Free Trade Bureau to discuss innovation policies and practices in the Pilot Free Trade Zone, aiming to enhance the development of Pilot Free Trade Zone and promote high-level opening up. Participants included key investment staff from various departments of the TEDA Administrative Commission and its affiliated enterprises. 

During the training, He Nan, Vice Director of the Free Trade Bureau of TEDA, provided a systematic and in-depth explanation of the latest policies of the Pilot Free Trade Zone from multiple perspectives, including enhancing comprehensive competitiveness in foreign trade, promoting investment liberalization and facilitation, and fostering a high-energy innovation ecosystem. As a core area for the biomedical industry in Tianjin and the Bohai Sea region, TEDA has established a relatively complete biomedical industry chain and ecosystem. It is home to the largest insulin and industrial enzyme production bases in China, hosts leading domestic pharmaceutical R&D outsourcing enterprises, and serves as a pioneer in small nucleic acid technology and the small nucleic acid pharmaceutical industry in China. Combining TEDA’s biomedical industry with the pioneering policies of the Pilot Free Trade Zone, He Nan highlighted hotspot topics such as the “white list” system for biomedical R&D, and that for imported food and drug materials, new types of offshore international trade, as well as film post-production services under the Free Trade Zone environment. He also shared insights on the establishment of business operations by foreign arbitration institutions, integrated innovation across the entire industry chain, and the development of the low-altitude economy. By drawing on best practice from developed regions and cities in China, he vividly analyzed the implementation pathways, effectiveness, and feasibility of replicating and promoting these policies.

The head of the relevant sections of the Free Trade Bureau provided a detailed interpretation of the 80 pilot measures on high-level institutional opening in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone, thoroughly explaining their applicable scenarios. Furthermore, he proposed differentiated pathways that TEDA could explore, offering practical guidance for investment promotion personnel.

The training was professional and focused, giving participants a better understanding of the latest free trade policies. The training, well-received by the attendees, laid a solid foundation for effective alignment with international economic and trade rules and the development of internationalized business environment.. The participants said that they would like to apply what they learned to promote high-quality regional development, advance the replication and extension of free trade policies based on local conditions, and tap new potentials for regional development.