Chi Fulin: Create a new highland of institutional opening up

Source: Economic Daily News Client

To build the Hainan Free Trade Port, it is necessary to take the initiative to adapt to the new trend of restructuring international economic and trade rules, fully learn from the advanced operation methods, management methods and institutional arrangements of the international free trade port, accelerate the institutional opening up of rules, regulations, management, standards and so on, build an open system with international competitiveness, and enhance the leading role of regional radiation.

The first is to take the initiative to dock with international high-level economic and trade rules. To dock with international high-level economic and trade rules, it is necessary to grasp the basic trend of expanding from "on the border" to "within the border". From the perspective of the trend of opening up, it not only covers trade and investment liberalization and facilitation measures "on the border" such as tariffs, quotas, customs supervision, and investment access, but also involves "in-border" rules such as competition policy and intellectual property protection. The Hainan Free Trade Port should focus on trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, comprehensively strengthen the basic position of competition policy, refine and implement the national treatment standards before and after access, strengthen the review of fair competition, and create an open, transparent, and predictable market environment; it is necessary to formulate rules for the protection of intellectual property rights in the Hainan Free Trade Port, formulate high standards for environmental protection, and carry out international cooperation in the field of intellectual property protection and environmental protection; in some areas where conditions are not yet available, through transitional, Long-term and principled relevant arrangements to achieve a substantive breakthrough in docking with international high-level economic and trade rules.

The second is to take trade in services as a breakthrough in high-level institutional opening-up. Forming an institutional system of rules, regulations, management, and standards for the service industry that is linked to the world is a major task for China to build a new development pattern, and it is also an important measure to establish a new open economic system. Since the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port, the negative list of foreign investment access, special measures for relaxing market access, and the negative list of cross-border trade in services have been successively issued, and certain progress has been made in relaxing market access for domestic and foreign service industries and breaking down barriers to cross-border trade in services.

In the future, there is still much room for improvement in the level of liberalization and facilitation of service trade in The Hainan Free Trade Port. It is recommended to further increase the stress test of service trade opening in the fields of finance, education, medical care, business services, shipping services and other fields, learn from the international experience of free trade port development, innovate and implement the fund payment and transfer system supporting cross-border service trade, and implement a more convenient entry-exit management policy. Formulate the certification standards for "accredited economic operators" for Hainan's trade in services, implement a one-way recognition system for the professional qualifications of talents in developed economies, and implement the "standard system + commitment system" in more fields. Take the lead in introducing international advanced service management standards in the field of medical health and duty-free shopping, and promote the construction of service standards, management, talents and platforms in Hainan Free Trade Port. Adapt to the general trend of rapid development of digital service trade, innovatively implement policies and institutional arrangements for the safe and orderly flow of data, actively carry out the first trial of e-commerce rules, and explore experience for China's participation in the formulation of global rules for digital service trade.

The third is to expand new space for regional cooperation in a high-level institutional opening up. The major task of building an important open gateway is to promote exchanges and cooperation between the Hainan Free Trade Port and Southeast Asian countries. ASEAN's position and role in China's open development pattern have become increasingly prominent. In 2020, China and ASEAN were each other's largest trading partners for the first time, and by 2030, ASEAN is expected to become the world's fourth largest economy. Relying on the unique location advantages of Hainan Free Trade Port, it is necessary to do a good job in the superposition and integration of the policy system of the free trade port and the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement), and strive to become an important intersection of domestic and international dual cycles. For example, with reference to the flexible and convenient rules of origin of RCEP, further refine and innovate the policy of tariff exemption for domestic sales of value-added goods processed by Hainan Free Trade Port, accelerate the formulation of the catalogue of taxable commodities, timely adjust the "zero tariff" list of Hainan Free Trade Port, and strengthen the docking of administrative procedures, administrative measures, administrative decisions and property rights protection and market supervision in Hainan Free Trade Port. In addition, an important breakthrough in regional market construction has been achieved in the high-level institutional opening up. For example, the establishment of bilateral and multilateral tourism economic cooperation networks for ASEAN in the docking of regional tourism services and market systems; the establishment of commodity exchanges for tropical agricultural products, cultural relics and artworks for ASEAN in Hainan; the establishment of regional financial markets, the comprehensive introduction of international rules, and the improvement of the ability of Hainan Free Trade Port to promote the flow of factors and the optimal allocation of resources in the region.

The fourth is to make good use of the autonomy of reform and opening up to create a new highland of institutional opening up. Make full use of the autonomy, special legislative power and coordination mechanism granted to Hainan by the Hainan Free Trade Port Law of the People's Republic of China. Clarify the boundaries of the authority of the Hainan Free Trade Port to formulate regulations, make good use of the hainan free trade port regulation formulation power, learn from the general characteristics of the international free trade port, and promote the innovation of the administrative, legislative and judicial systems under the framework of this law. Accelerate the implementation of flexible legislation in the fields of intellectual property protection, digital economy, trade in services, customs supervision and other fields, and maximize the integration with high-level international economic and trade rules under the premise of adhering to the basic principles of existing laws.

(Chi Fulin, President of China (Hainan) Reform and Development Research Institute and Special Researcher of Hainan Provincial Research Center for Theory and System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics)