Six tug boats unload a 400,000-metric-ton-class South Korean ore carrier at Shulanghu Wharf in Ningbo Zhoushan Port on Nov 1. [Photo/VCG]

After receiving approval from the State Council, the China (Zhejiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone doubled in size in September by adding another 119.5 sq km in area in Zhejiang province, namely the Ningbo area (46 sq km), the Hangzhou area (37.51 sq km), and the Jinhua-Yiwu area (35.99 sq km), to its existing Zhoushan area (120 sq km).

At a press conference on Nov 25, Zhejiang authorities announced that the provincial government would soon publish new guidelines on the reform and development of the Zhejiang FTZ, strictly following the State Council's instructions.

The guidelines state that the growth rates for GDP and R&D expenses in the Zhejiang FTZ should be 2 percentage points higher than the provincial average, while the growth rates for foreign trade and actual use of foreign investment in the Zhejiang FTZ should be 3 percentage points higher than the provincial average.

The economic and trade rules being applied in the Zhejiang FTZ will follow international practices that have been adopted in Singapore, Shanghai, Guangdong, and Hainan. The electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP), an Alibaba-led initiative, will also be pushed forward in the Zhejiang FTZ at an accelerated pace.

Meanwhile, international students who obtained a bachelor's degree or above at Chinese universities are encouraged to work and start businesses in the Zhejiang FTZ.

The industrial and human resource policies to be adopted in the Zhejiang FTZ will be similar to those adopted in the Lingang Special Area of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and the Hainan Free Trade Port.

Zhejiang authorities will also work to establish a separate rights system allowing people to use land above and below the ground in the Zhejiang FTZ and construct underground warehousing facilities for oil and gas there.