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Anhui Pilot Free Trade Zone’s foreign trade reached 154.07 billion yuan ($23.34 billion) in 2021, accounting for 22.3 percent of the provincial total, local authorities said at a press conference on Thursday. 
At the conference, the Anhui provincial government briefed on what the FTZ has achieved since the beginning of 2021.
Foreign direct investment into the zone stood at $870 million last year, making up 47.4 percent of the provincial total. Up to 13,000 companies were registered in the zone in 2021. Meanwhile, the fixed-asset investment rose 11.9 percent year-on-year, higher than the provincial average of 9.4 percent. The zone attracted 795 projects worth a total of 319.5 billion yuan, including headquarters of some big companies and research and development (R&D) centers. The Hefei Area of the FTZ implemented a whole-chain service system and piloted a program allowing cross-border e-commerce goods to be delivered via China-Europe trains, cargo charter flights and direct shipping services. As a result, the monthly transaction volume of cross-border e-commerce rocketed by 70-odd times. The National Innovation Center for New Glass Materials was set up in the Bengbu Area of the FTZ in Feb this year. It is the first national innovation center for the manufacturing industry in Anhui. Cross-border trade became freer and more convenient as the zone launched five reforms of the administration of foreign exchange on a trial basis. The Department of Commerce of Anhui Province, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and China Council for the Promotion of International Trade signed a contract with the International Commercial Dispute Prevention and Settlement Organization in Feb to provide comprehensive legal services for cross-border trade and investment.
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