Peng Jing, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference: There are still shortcomings in the open economy in The Chengdu-Chongqing region, and it is urgent to need national policy support

Wang Hongru, a reporter from China Economic Weekly, | report on the two sessions of the National People's Congress

During the two sessions of the National People's Congress this year, Peng Jing, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a founding partner of Chongqing Jingsheng Law Firm, brought a proposal on supporting the construction of an open economic system in the Chengdu-Chongqing region, saying, "The Chengdu-Chongqing region has inland, international and strategic characteristics, and in the context of the 'Belt and Road', shouldering the national mission of integrating China's central and western regions into the world development system is an inevitable choice for China's economic modernization and accelerated internationalization strategy." However, compared with the development requirements, the current open economic system in Chengdu and Chongqing still has shortcomings and urgently needs national policy support. ”

Peng Jing, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consult

Peng Jing summarized the shortcomings of the open economic system in the Chengdu-Chongqing region into the following aspects:

First, the open channel faces "three types of obstructions", which restricts the resource allocation function for the global market. The first is that the capacity of the new land and sea corridor in the west is limited. Since 2020, the new land and sea corridor in the western region has accelerated the release of capacity dividends, forming a new channel for China's overseas markets. However, at present, a large number of new businesses (frozen containers, e-commerce logistics) are still in the testing stage, and there is not enough traffic, and traditional businesses (bulk commodity logistics, etc.) have not yet been introduced in large quantities. The second is the difficulty of coordinating the construction of foreign ports. The data of the trade and logistics inspection and management departments of various ports in provinces and cities along the route have not been shared, and the "mutual recognition of regulatory results" has not yet been formed. The business requirements and data standards of the customs, inspection and quarantine bureaus, foreign exchange administrations and other departments within the provinces and cities are inconsistent, and it is currently impossible to formulate generally accepted rules for multimodal transport services. Third, logistics channels are difficult to adapt to the new requirements of opening up to the outside world. For example, the lack of financial support for the fifth air traffic right of the air transport channel has affected the enthusiasm of airlines.

Second, the open platform faces "three major dilemmas", which limits the status and ability to participate in the international division of labor. The first is that the platform function is not working well. At present, the State Administration of Market Supervision stipulates that parallel imported cars are not subject to 3C certification, so that parallel imported cars can only be imported in the form of large trade vehicles, which reduces the advantages of parallel imported cars in price and is not conducive to the development of the chengdu-Chongqing parallel import car industry. Secondly, the hub agglomeration function needs to be enhanced. For example, the policies given by the national level to the Lingang New Area of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone to promote the expansion and opening up of the financial service industry and allow professional talents to participate in China's relevant vocational qualification examinations have not yet landed in the Sichuan-Chongqing Free Trade Zone. The third is that the synergy mechanism has not been straightened out. For example, the China-Europe Express (Chengdu-Chongqing) has not yet realized the transition from "physical integration" to "chemical integration", and has not yet achieved deep coordination and convergence in terms of subsidy standards and operating mechanisms.

Third, the main body of opening up is facing a "double impact". The first is to face the impact of the external environment on the supply chain in Chengdu and Chongqing. Nowadays, the international situation is changeable and rapid, and the uncertainty factors for the development of foreign trade and foreign investment have increased, which is reflected in the risk of cluster migration of manufacturing supply chains at present. Secondly, the industrial advantages facing market players have not yet been transformed into overseas market advantages. The traditional foreign trade industry cluster represented by pen and telecommunications in Chengdu and Chongqing is large but not strong, and the export orientation of the industry represented by automobiles is not high, and the number of emerging industrial clusters is small and has not yet become a scale.

In view of the problems existing in the open economic system in the Chengdu-Chongqing region, member Peng Jing put forward the following suggestions:

The first is to promote the "expansion" of open channels in the Chengdu-Chongqing area. On the basis of the existing coordination mechanism of railway companies, we will improve the formation of a coordination mechanism including the leaders in charge of the State Council, the ministerial level, the national railway group, and the cities where the trains run, and comprehensively solve major problems in the development process of China-Europe express trains. At the same time, it is recommended that the national "14th Five-Year Plan" include key infrastructure construction projects for the large sea exit channel. It is recommended that the Ministry of Commerce support the accelerated landing of the Collaborative Innovation Demonstration Zone in the Sichuan-Chongqing Pilot Free Trade Zone, and support the construction of an inland free trade port in Chongqing by relying on the trend of expansion and upgrading of the national free trade zone during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period.

The second is to support the "upgrading" of the open platform in the Chengdu-Chongqing region. Since the construction of the "new land-sea corridor" involves many countries and regions, it is necessary to solve the problems of institutional mechanisms for coordination and cooperation between all parties, infrastructure construction, industrial division of labor and coordination, and international investment and trade rules. It is recommended that the Ministry of Commerce take the lead in accelerating the establishment of an international cooperation mechanism for the construction of a "new land and sea corridor", clarify the rights and responsibilities of all participants and stakeholders through international law and negotiations, and especially handle cooperative relations with Southeast Asia, Europe and other countries along the "Belt and Road". On the basis of the existing China-ASEAN cooperation mechanism, China-EU cooperation mechanism, WTO rules, etc., accelerate the establishment of an international cooperation mechanism for the construction of a "new land and sea corridor". It is recommended to start from the top-level design and set up a coordination group for the construction of the "new land-sea corridor", whose members are composed of leaders of relevant ministries and commissions and provinces (municipalities directly under the central government and autonomous regions) along the route, clearly lead the division of labor between provinces, cities and provinces, give play to the backbone role of Chongqing, establish a regular consultation mechanism, formulate a channel construction plan, organize the implementation of channel construction, and coordinate the differences between all parties.

The third is to guide the "empowerment" of the opening up policy system in the Chengdu-Chongqing region. On the basis of the financial attributes of railway documents and the non-exchange of boxes for iron-sea intermodal transport, it is recommended that the Ministry of Commerce actively explore the implementation points of land trade in legal support, standardization construction, product creation and promotion and application, and financial services. Do a good job in replicating and promoting the system and standard system to the western region, so as to enhance the institutional advantages of the opening up of the western inland as a whole.

Editor-in-charge: Yao Kun

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