China's free trade zones (FTZs) are one bright spot in an otherwise dimming economy, as three of them celebrate their first 100 days this week.

 

The area covered by the Tianjin FTZ, one of the three unveiled on April, saw 7,053 new enterprises registered in the first half of 2015, more than double the number in the first half of 2014, as companies eyed the preferential policies to be offered in the zone, according to Jiang Guangjian, deputy director of the zone.

 

He attributed the increase to cutting red tape, relaxing rules on foreign investment, and the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

 

As for Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei development strategy, businesses have been encouraged by an integration plan that includes industrial upgrades and better traffic management. Public services will be improved and the area will be made into a more comfortable environment for foreign enterprises to work in.

 

Exports from the Tianjin FTZ have been spurred by the liberalization. Liu Jiangang, deputy secretary general of the Tianjin municipal government, said exports increased 5.1 percent year on year in the first half, with a 29-percent surge in exports to countries along the Belt and Road regional trade and infrastructure network.

 

The Belt and Road encompasses more than 60 countries and regions, with a population of 4.4 billion. Those areas accounted for more than a quarter of China's total exports and about a fifth of its outbound direct investment in the first five months of 2015, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

 

Tianjin is an important hub for the Belt and Road, as are the two other FTZs in Guangdong and Fujian provinces. Their opening in April followed the launch of China's first FTZ, in Shanghai, 18 months ago.

 

The central government is encouraging the zones to pilot measures to promote growth, although all of them must adhere to the "negative list" approach, which details areas in which foreign investment is prohibited or restricted, ranging from media to non-ferrous metal mining. 

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