At 0:00 on Jan. 1 this year, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) came into force, marking the sailing of a free trade zone being the largest in population, economic and trade scale with the greatest development potential in the world. As a free trade area in the northeastern region leading to the sea and air gates in the world, Dalian Free Trade Area, under the leadership of the Working Committee, Management Commission of Jinpu New District, comprehensively implements the work requirement of the Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government for high-quality implementation of RCEP, spares no effort to forge a new engine for deepening the RCEP regional economic and trade cooperation, a new highland for the RCEP enterprises entering Chinese cutting edge and high-quality docking with the RCEP economic and trade rules. Recently, the journalists from the major media in our city have visited Dalian Free Trade Area to physically experience the measures and achievements made by the Area to be first to seize the RCEP opportunity and make all efforts to forge an upgraded version of the pilot free trade zone, and published and broadcast a series of reports.

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Recently, a report has been made in the English news column on the website of the central people's government of PRC about the work achievements made by China (Liaoning) Pilot Free Trade Zone Dalian Area who has joined hands with Dalian Customs to actively promote the enhancement of trade facilitation and help enterprises grasp the new RCEP opportunities since the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement came into effect. This is the first time that the work achievements of Dalian Free Trade Area were published on the Chinese government website of English version, which immediately attracted the attention of the world.

At the southern gate of Dalian Bonded Zone, the RCEP (Dalian) International Business Zone with a planned area of 32,000 square meters is under aggressive construction. After the project was started on May 31, the construction teams scheduled the work conversely to ensure putting the project into use in October this year. In the near future, the functions of the RCEP enterprise headquarters base, the economic and trade promotion center, the enterprise service center, etc. will be integrated here, the foreign-invested enterprises from the RCEP countries and relevant enterprises engaged in economic and trade exchanges with the RCEP countries will gather here, and various economic and trade institutions and industrial associations of the RCEP member countries will be attracted here. 

The blueprint of the RCEP (Dalian) International Business Zone has a strong attraction for domestic and foreign investors. On the plate unveiling day, a contract was signed on the spot for the six projects of the Energy Vehicle Battery R&D Center of Prime Planet, ORIX Medical Equipment Financial Leasing, Korea High-end Cosmetics Production Base, Sinopec RCEP Hydrogen Energy International Cooperation, Haier Air-conditioner Manufacturing for Export to ASEAN and Wanzhong Yuncang RCEP Fine Product Exhibition & Sales Center. The investors and the free trade area policymakers were "resonant at the same frequency" on "being first to seize opportunities". 

In the Free Trade Building 2.5 km away from the construction site of the RCEP (Dalian) International Business Zone, the RCEP Enterprise Service Center having just been put into use has attracted a lot of small and micro enterprises to come "for the shoal". Here, there are 150 stations for free use by the same, and such public ancillary facilities as multi-functional meeting room, personalized negotiation room, standardized direct broadcast room, etc. are fully equipped. The more welcomed by the enterprises is the special team established by the Management Commission of the Free Trade Area to provide RCEP policy consultation services to the enterprises stationed in, and help them be first to seize the RCEP opportunities for more rapid development. Han Hengchao, who has recently registered an import and export trading company, told the reporter, "Working here can not only save a rental charge of RMB 40,000 to 50,000 yuan for us every year, but the answers regarding the RCEP policies of tariff reduction, etc. from the service personnel of the center also become an indispensable 'external brain' for enterprise development." 

While forging a "frontier position" for the small and micro enterprises to connect with RCEP, Dalian Free Trade Area is also aggressively drawing the blueprint of the RCEP International Building in Xiaoyaowan Business Zone. The RCEP International Building will comply with relevant rules for commercialized and marketized operation, with the construction period not more than 3 years. After completion and being put into service, it will became a high-level industrial service center of Dalian oriented to the enterprises in the RCEP member countries, a science and technology innovation center, an administrative service center, and will also become a transnational company headquarters, a functional headquarters and a place for the gathering of R&D centers in the RCEP region. 

On top of "nesting to attract phoenix" aimed to forge a good hardware condition, a high level of planning and real financial support policies are much more valued by investors. In order for the listed and engineering implementation of RCEP as a project, Dalian Free Trade Area has issued the Three-year Action Plan for High-quality RCEP Implementation (2022-2024), including 20 items of special work measures around the following five aspects: building a high-level cooperation platform, deepening high-quality industrial cooperation, driving rapid foreign trade development, promoting efficient element aggregation and forging a business environment above first-rate, and the ancillary 15 items of Policy Measures for support and reward are unprecedented. Among them, the maximum reward can be up to 10 million yuan for the newly established transnational headquarters or functional headquarters by the traders from the RCEP countries. 

"In respect of being the first to seize the RCEP opportunity, Dalian is the focus in Northeast China and the Free Trade Area is the focus in Dalian. the Free Trade Area will continually optimize the business environment, keep innovating new RCEP industries and business forms, help the enterprises in its jurisdiction and the hinterland open up a diversified and unified major market to amplify the 'magnetic field effect' of the economic development." Relevant principal of Dalian Free Trade Area (Bonded Zone) told the reporter. He said that Dalian Free Trade Area will also do business solicitation by focusing on the industrial leading enterprises in the RCEP member countries and such key industries as new energy, bio-medicine, etc., promote the landing of relevant projects with full efforts; accelerate institutional innovation, promote the inter-connectivity of the "single window" with that of the RCEP member countries, achieve the intelligent exchange and sharing of such data as cargo declaration information, document information, logistics information, etc. and improve the level of cargo customs clearance facilitation; work jointly with the departments of customs, maritime affairs, port authority, etc. for connected implementation of relevant RCEP trade facilitation measures and help enterprises fully enjoy the dividends of RCEP.