Guangdong FTZ sees fast growth, high quality in 3 years

The economic output of Qianhai and Shekou Area of the China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone has reached hundreds of billions of yuan after three years of establishment, according to local authorities on Friday.

Tian Fu, head of the Qianhai administration, said that the added value of registered firms achieved 203 billion yuan ($32 billion) in 2017, up 43.4 percent compared with the same period in the previous year. So far, about 72,200 companies have opened in the zone, about 42 percent of the total number of registered entities.

"The zone has become one of the districts with the fastest growth rates and highest quality levels in China," he noted at an anniversary event on April 27.

For future development, the zone aims to provide the best business environment in the country by 2020, he pledged at a media conference on Wednesday.

To achieve the goal, the zone has formulated 10 major measures, including establishing a Qianhai industry promotion center and expanding investment guidance funds of no less than 5 billion yuan in 2020.

The zone also plans to attract 80 company headquarters to the zone and set up a fund of more than 1 billion yuan to support their development.

In addition, the local taxation bureau launched advanced technology to increase working efficiency in Qianhai, such as identity recognition through facial recognition, an augmented reality tax service hall and big data analysis.