Coordination to focus on implementing strategies to unleash regional potential

China will seek better coordination among the various free trade zones as their closer cooperation will provide strong impetus for economic development, experts and government officials said on Monday.

The China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone is joining hands with the pilot FTZs in Zhejiang, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces, to jointly design coordinated development patterns that will further contribute to the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region, said Yang Chao, deputy head of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone Administration.

Yang made the remarks on Monday at an event organized by the Beijing-based Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation to release a new report on the development of China's FTZs.

"We plan to have effective coordination on institutional innovation, function extension, and industrial development among the four FTZs in the Yangtze River Delta region. Better coordination will enable the FTZs to play a key role in implementing national strategies to coordinate regional development and unleash potential," said Yang.

In September, China announced the establishment of a new pilot FTZ in Anhui province and the expansion of the existing pilot FTZ in Zhejiang, along with two new pilot FTZs in Beijing and Hunan province.

With this, the number of FTZs in China has risen to 21. The three provinces and one directly-administered municipality in the Yangtze River Delta now have FTZs, as the country seeks a higher level of opening-up and new momentum for regional development in the area.