Forming More Leading and Iconic Institutional Innovation Achievements, People's Daily Connected to Liberation Daily Commentator: Promoting High Quality Development of Pilot Free Trade Zones | Shanghai | High Quality

Dialogue person:

Zou Xiang, commentator of this newspaper

Zhu Minxuan, commentator of Liberation Daily

Zou Xiang: In 2013, the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone was unveiled, unveiling China's first negative list for foreign investment access. This "list" has gone from the initial 190 items "slimming down" to the current 27 items, which not only demonstrates China's firm stance of actively participating in global economic governance and aligning with international high standard economic and trade rules, but also effectively promotes China's deep market-oriented reform through high-level opening up, accelerating institutional opening up in areas such as rules, regulations, management, and standards. Today, we are taking the lead in implementing the "separation of certificates and licenses" and establishing a "single window" for international trade... A group of pioneering reforms are moving from here to the whole country, which also prompts us to ponder: how can the "first person to eat crabs" turn pressure into power in exploring the way?

Zhu Minxu: One important methodology for Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone to continuously launch leading and iconic institutional innovation achievements is to carry out "stress testing". For example, actively exploring innovation in financial technology regulation, the "Financial Leasing SPV Integrated Circuit Equipment Leasing Business" launched at the end of June this year adopted a "regulatory sandbox" mechanism. During the pilot process, risk assessment will be conducted and communication with regulatory authorities will be strengthened. When the time is ripe, integrated circuit financial leasing may be included in the regulatory scope, which is expected to empower integrated circuit enterprises nationwide. This pilot arrangement interprets the connotation of "stress testing".

Zou Xiang: This "regulatory sandbox" is equivalent to creating a relatively inclusive regulatory environment in a shrinking real market, while preventing regulatory issues from spreading beyond the "box". It belongs to fault-tolerant correction within a controllable risk range, thus achieving a balance between regulation and innovation. Through such a regulatory "box", we can find a model of inclusive and prudent rules, and explore more ways to stimulate market creativity. The Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone can always dynamically benchmark against the highest international standards and levels of economic and trade rules.

Zhu Minxuan: Innovation comes with risks, but we cannot stop moving forward just because there are risks. Instead, we must promote reform under the premise of controllable risks. Choosing small-scale pilot projects, with controllable risks, allowing for trial and error, and flexible debugging, gradually institutionalized and programmed after the operation is mature, reduces the cost of institutional innovation and maximizes the effectiveness of reform. At the same time, institutional innovation must be promoted on the track of the rule of law. Bold experimentation, daring innovation, and independent innovation are inseparable from the guarantee of institutional mechanisms. The Regulations on China Pilot Free Trade Zone and the Regulations on China Pilot Free Trade Zone Lingang New Area solidify the authority granted by the central government to the pilot free trade zone, laying a solid foundation for the reform, innovation, and pioneering exploration of the pilot free trade zone.

Zou Xiang: In institutional innovation, the synergy of reform is particularly important. Over the past decade, the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone has carried out institutional innovation in areas such as international investment management, trade liberalization and facilitation, financial openness and regulation. These reform areas are highly coupled, and individual breakthroughs are often difficult to achieve results. How to fully utilize strategic, creative, and leading reform measures, strengthen system integration and efficient collaboration of reforms, and achieve a point to area effect? How can we make the innovation of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone system the "point" that drives the high-level opening up of the country to the outside world?

Zhu Minxu: Institutional innovation itself reflects an organic combination of key breakthroughs and overall promotion. Various supporting reforms are advancing together, forming a joint force, and institutional innovation objectively forms a process of driving and continuously weaving into a dense network. For example, the pilot reform of "separation of certificates and licenses" in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone needs to be supported by sound supporting policies and measures, such as standardizing the connection between enterprise registration and business scope and applying for business licenses, strengthening the collection and sharing of enterprise related business information, and continuously improving the quality and efficiency of approval services. This indicates that the institutional innovation achievements of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone are not simply a physical puzzle, but have profound internal connections, forming a comprehensive effect of system integration. Looking across the country, the institutional innovation of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone is based not only on Shanghai, but also on the whole country, combining "one region" and "overall". Some institutional innovations can downplay regional characteristics and promote them nationwide, such as the reform of the commercial registration system of "license first, certificate later" and the optimization of the administrative approval process of "single window", which have applicability beyond regions and have also been promoted nationwide. In fact, about half of the first six batches of institutional innovation experiences in free trade pilot zones launched by the State Council for nationwide replication and promotion were initiated by Shanghai.

Zou Xiang: Good grades, heavier tasks. The key work list of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone includes deepening the reform of "one network, one service, one certificate", establishing and improving the comprehensive industry supervision system, and carrying out pilot registration and management of commercial mediation organizations. To form more leading and iconic institutional innovation achievements, build more high-energy level open platforms, strengthen new driving forces for modern industrial development, and promote reform and development through high-level opening, sustained efforts and long-term achievements are still needed.

Zhu Minxuan: This reminds me of the three tables in the first year of the establishment of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone. The first one is a green desktop, filled with 186 pre reform restrictive measures documents; The second one is a blue desktop, displaying 151 adjusted documents; The third one is an orange desktop, which contains 35 documents that have been retained one year after the reform. That is to say, in the first year of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone experiment, 81% of the investment restriction documents of enterprises were adjusted, and some restriction clauses disappeared thereafter. Three tables, a microcosm of ten years, simplifying administration and delegating power through subtraction, in exchange for multiplication of market openness, activity, and convenience. On the new journey, the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone still needs to continue to leverage the "leading goose" effect of institutional innovation, vigorously implement the upgrading strategy of the pilot free trade zone at a new starting point, and drive "overall vitality" with "one domain entry". Anchoring the goal of creating a new era of reform and opening up and an international first-class business environment, the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone will continue to forge ahead and strive for excellence, better playing the role of pioneers, demonstration leaders, and breakthroughs.