The Zhuhai Free Trade Zone is located near Wanzai Checkpoint, Hengqin New Area, and Shizimen Central Business District, and faces Macao to the east. It was founded in 1996 with State Council approval and began operations in 1999 as the sole FTZ on the west bank of the Pearl River Estuary.

The 3-sqkm (1-sq mile) FTZ is heavily involved in economic and trade cooperation and exchange with Macao. It gives full play to advantages in tax refunded exports, bonded warehousing, and 24-hour customs clearance to develop logistics, exhibitions and sales, and cross-border e-commerce.

Its customs special supervision zone is engaged in bonded processing, warehousing and logistics, international trade, and exhibition and sales, and it is developing advanced manufacturing and associated production-oriented service industries.

Modern "bonded plus" industries related to information technology, aviation, biomedicine, and business services are thriving in the park, as are cross-border e-commerce and other strategic emerging industries.

MTU Maintenance, Zhuhai Xiangyi Aviation Technology, XH Smart Tech (China), and other in-house enterprises have demonstrated a strong growth momentum backed up by preferential policies in customs supervision, foreign exchange management, and taxation.

[Photos by Zhong Fan]

In the meantime, the non-customs special supervision zone north of Hengqin is developing high-end business services.

The Zhuhai FTZ has attracted foreign capital of $240 million. It is home to 20,000 employees of more than 1,200 enterprises, of which more than 100 are above designated size. Local annualized growth rate of GDP reached 8.9 percent, added value of industrial enterprises above designated size 6.8 percent, and fix-asset investment 78 percent during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20).

A new city center is being formed by the zone along with Hengqin and Hongwan areas. It will also become a key part of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area City Parlor and Bridge Economic Zone relying on proximity to the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge.