Recently, the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce released the China Free Trade Pilot Zone Development Report (2024), which selected 130 pioneering and integrated institutional innovation achievements. Among these, ten innovations from the China (Anhui) Free Trade Pilot Zone were chosen as national exemplary cases, ranking first in the Yangtze River Delta region and fifth nationwide in terms of the number of selected cases.

The selected institutional innovations cover key areas such as investment, trade, finance, and regulation, forming replicable experiences. In the investment sector, Anhui pioneered the “staged simplified handling” model for pollution discharge permit changes, fully online processing of customs enterprise credit status certifications, and an integrated reform linking environmental impact assessments with pollution discharge permits. In trade, Anhui introduced new models including the reengineered import car inspection and supervision process, the Yangtze River Delta customs special supervision zones, quarantine supervision of imported wooden packaging materials, a novel “returned goods + blockchain-assisted management” model for cross-border e-commerce bonded retail exports, and a comprehensive Yangtze River shipping service platform. In finance, Anhui developed a new “full risk compensation” supply chain finance service model. In whole-process supervision, it established an urban operation monitoring indicator system and evaluation standards. In cross-regional cooperation, Anhui promoted the integration of public resource transactions in the Yangtze River Delta region.

Since its establishment in 2020, the Anhui Free Trade Pilot Zone has accumulated 236 institutional innovations, including 47 nationwide firsts and 13 widely replicated innovations across China, providing practical models for building a high-level open economy.

Source: Anhui Daily