Upgraded Free Trade Port Strategy Fuels Investment Attraction

Recently, several dozen tons of overseas spices went through customs clearance in the Tianjin port, marking the first batch of goods imported by full container load under the new “dual-certificate” model since the implementation of the new policy on the classified management of “food and medicine substances.” This represents a significant achievement in way of policy-driven investment attraction, a trial of institutional innovation by the Tianjin Pilot Free Trade Zone.

In 2025, the Opinions on Implementing the Strategy to Enhance Pilot Free Trade Zones, issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, explicitly stated that “items classified as both food and medicine shall be cleared based on their intended use for actual purposes.” To seize this critical policy opportunity, TEDA Administrative Commission and the Tianjin Pilot Free Trade Zone (TJFTZ) Innovation Development Bureau proactively reached out to potential target companies. In July, enterprises interested in the prospects of reform established operations in TEDA. In December, the General Administration of Customs and three other departments jointly issued the Announcement on Pilot Implementation of Classified Management Measures for Imported Food and Medicinal Substances, specifying the implementation of classified management for 30 food and medicinal substances, including nutmeg and long pepper. The first enterprise to put this policy into practice imported nutmeg and long pepper under the food-use category, without submiting the Customs Clearance Form for Imported Drugs, completing all customs clearance procedures remotely. A representative from the company stated that going forward, it will further connect global resources of food and medicinal substances, integrate more spice category imports into Tianjin, and take the city as a hub to serve the national market.

As a core platform for leveraging the institutional innovation from the TJFTZ, TEDA fully capitalized on its advantages as a national strategic emerging industry cluster for biomedicine. Collaborating with the TJFTZ Innovation Development Bureau, TEDA targeted at the niche sector of medicinal and edible substances and presented target enterprises with a combination of advantages including  port facilities, industrial ecosystem, and comprehensive bonded zone. Looking ahead, TEDA will continue to leverage its phmarceutical and healthcare industry cluster to provide end-to-end services for enterprises from registration and establishment to customs clearance and logistics. These efforts will attract more high-quality companies in the medical and health sector to invest and operate in the region.