The 1st of April marks the fourth anniversary of the establishment of China (Sichuan) Pilot Free Trade Zone (SCFTZ). In the past four years, the SCFTZ, with an area of less than one-four-thousandth of the whole province, has contributed one-fourth of the foreign-invested enterprises, one-tenth of the import and export volume, and one-tenth of the newly-established enterprises in the province, coming out on top among the third batch of pilot free trade zones in main indicators.

　　In the past four years, the SCFTZ has experienced a three-step growth comprised of a solid kick-start, a leading layout, and an integration of breakthroughs, showing four main features:

　　First, the SCFTZ has carried out a range of pilot projects and made continuous achievements in institutional innovation. Up to now, over 99% of the 159 pilot reform tasks assigned by the Central Government have been implemented, and 146 provincial-level administration rights in three batches have been delegated to areas and pilot zones for collaborative reform, thus constantly advancing institutional innovation.

　　Second, the SCFTZ, based on its own advantages, has made further progress in differentiated experiments and explorations. By exploiting its geographical proximity to airport, railway, and river, the SCFTZ has accelerated the construction of a highly efficient and closed-loop strategic channel integrating sea, land and air transport for opening-up. Specifically, the number of international routes at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport has increased to 130. The China-Europe Railway Express (Chengdu & Chongqing) has continued to lead the pack in the country in terms of the number of trains departed and loading rate.

　　Third, headway has been made in coordination to accelerate opening-up development. The SCFTZ, together with Chongqing, has built a demonstration zone for the collaborative opening of pilot free trade zones in Sichuan and Chongqing, and has established the first pilot zone for collaborative reform in the country.

　　Fourth, the SCFTZ has made concerted efforts to further open-up development against the trend. Last year, the SCFTZ took the lead in introducing Nine Measures to cope with the COVID-19 epidemic and fuel reform and opening-up, which effectively stabilized the economic fundamentals of foreign trade and foreign investment. In this context, Sichuan topped the central and western China in the scale of import and export. Major breakthroughs were made in the open platform and open economy, with the full coverage of comprehensive bonded zone.