On March 31st, 2018, the China (Sichuan) Pilot Free Trade Zone held a press conference for the first anniversary of listing. Mr. Liu Xin, Director of the Sichuan Provincial Department of Commerce, Executive Deputy Director of the Provincial Free Trade Office, Mr. Liu Yuliu, Deputy Mayor of the Chengdu Municipal People's Government, and Liu Qiang, Mayor of the Luzhou Municipal People's Government attended the conference where they introduced the construction of the Sichuan Pilot Free Trade Zone and answered questions from reporters.

Over the past year, the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government have attached great importance to the construction of the Pilot Free Trade Zone. In accordance with the functional orientation of the “Four Districts and One Highland” determined by the central government, they have strengthened the top-level design, issued support policies, established a “Province, cities, and districts three-level linkage” management structure and has promoted the construction of the Pilot Free Trade Zone with high standards. In particular, the second plenary session of the 11th Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China took the construction of the Pilot Free Trade Zone as one of the “Four Key Projects” that must be highlighted in Sichuan's long-term development plan. As a leading project to promote comprehensive development and opening up of the Sichuan Province, it has upgraded to a provincial strategic development project and an overall reform project. And as a result, the Pilot Free Trade Zone has ushered in a major historical opportunity of rapid development.

The reporter learned from the scene that after a year of exploration and practice, Sichuan Pilot Free Trade Zone has seen a steady growth in its system innovation. With a groundbreaking high start, the growth rate of reform dividend has been accelerated, and the innovation vitality continued to burst, which not only stimulated the growth of open economy, but also promoted the innovative development of ideological concepts, development concepts, institutional mechanisms, government services, and the rule of law environment. Furthermore, it has also brought about powerful learning effects, open effects and competitive effects. Consequently, the formation process of the new three-dimensional comprehensive opening up pattern in Sichuan has been accelerated. In 2017, there were 22,000 new enterprises with registered capital of RMB 310 billion and 204 new foreign-invested enterprises, accounting for one-third of the total number of the province; the total import and export volume of Chengdu and Luzhou, where the Pilot Free Trade Zone is located, has seen an increase of 49.1% in 2017. At present, Sichuan Pilot Free Trade Zone has accumulatively added 34,000 enterprises with registered capital exceeding RMB 400 billion, and more than 300 foreign-invested enterprises have been established. The import and export volume of Chengdu and Luzhou cities was increased by 25.5% from January to February this year.