Beijing is accelerating its high-level institutional opening-up by leveraging the Integrated National Demonstration Zone for Opening up the Services Sector and the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone, driving robust economic growth and attracting significant foreign investment, officials said.
Over the past five years, the Chinese capital has witnessed its GDP consecutively cross the 4-trillion-yuan ($590 billion) and 5-trillion-yuan marks, making it the second city in China to exceed the 5-trillion-yuan economic threshold. During this period, Beijing utilized nearly $60 billion in foreign direct investment, with an outbound investment stock of nearly $110 billion. Its total import and export volume exceeded 16 trillion yuan, and its services trade scale firmly secured a position among the top three nationwide.
“Looking at the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period, Beijing will firmly rely on the construction of the two zones to build a ‘test field’ for high-standard opening-up, striving to pioneer more opening-up measures in fields such as the digital economy and medicine,” said Tang Wenhong, vice-mayor of Beijing.
Tang said the city aims to become a preferred destination for foreign investment by expanding market access, facilitating cross-border data flows and improving financial services, backed by tailored policy support and regular roundtable dialogues designed to address business concerns.
The city’s industrial structure has rapidly evolved, with next-generation information technology, technology services, and medicine and health emerging as three trillion-yuan sectors, alongside the accelerated layout of seven 100-billion-yuan industries including artificial intelligence and smart equipment.
By aligning with high-standard international trade rules, Beijing became one of the first regions in China to pilot expanded opening-up in value-added telecommunications and medical fields. To date, 67 foreign enterprises — including Deutsche Telekom and Airbus — have received approval for value-added telecommunications business operations.
Institutional innovation remains a core engine for this growth. Beijing has introduced the country’s first scenario-based, field-level negative list for cross-border data transfers, covering nine major sectors such as automobiles and medical devices. It also pioneered the implementation of the World Trade Organization’s e-commerce agreement and promoted trade digitalization scenarios with Singapore. Furthermore, the capital’s key industrial parks have become vital stages for international cooperation. Financial Street now hosts landmark projects, managing approximately half of the city’s and one-eighth of the nation’s total assets.
“Over the past six years, guided by the two zones, Beijing has continuously promoted institutional opening-up and contributed the ‘Beijing Experience’ to the country’s high-standard opening-up,” said Zhuang Jianrong, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau.
Zhuang said more than 80 innovative measures have been replicated and promoted nationwide, while the city has established a robust financial opening-up system that includes the Beijing Stock Exchange and the Beijing International Big Data Exchange.
This favorable business environment, bolstered by the implementation of the Beijing Foreign Investment Ordinance, has yielded tangible results, Zhuang said, adding that during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, the number of newly established foreign enterprises in Beijing increased by 37 percent compared to the previous five years.
She said the city’s BioPark has attracted 14 of the world’s top 20 pharmaceutical companies within just two years. Meanwhile, the Tianzhu Comprehensive Bonded Zone has seen its pharmaceutical trade volume exceed 100 billion yuan for three consecutive years, accounting for nearly one-third of the national total.
Tanks to chinadaily.com.cn
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