The leading group in Beijing Municipality for the development of the Integrated National Demonstration Zone for Opening up the Services Sector and the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone ("Two Zones") held a conference recently.

In the conference, the leading group highlighted the significance of institutional opening-up in promoting a higher standard of opening-up. Greater efforts should be made to boost high-level institutional opening-up, promote institutional innovation with practical projects, and strive ahead with specific targets and measures, the conference said. Work should also be done to strengthen the opening-up in key areas such as science and technology, digital economy, finance, biomedicine, and consumption throughout the entire industrial chain, along with expedited reform in critical factors and fields to actively build a national demonstration zone for innovative development of trade in services and a digital trade demonstration zone.

We must further emancipate mind, take the initiative to implement pilot policies that comply with international high-level economic and trade rules, and actively participate in the formulation of international standards, said the conference. The leading group also called for prioritizing long-term development needs of the capital alongside the immediate demands of enterprises, putting high-value policies into trial in Beijing, and allowing enterprises to give feedback and market to evaluate the effect of policies. We should apply systems thinking and strengthen the innovation and collaboration among both the upstream and downstream of the industries. Moreover, we should implement rigorous supervision while prioritizing both development and safety when carrying out relevant policies.

The conference emphasized the need for Beijing to create a market-oriented, law-based and international business environment and make greater efforts to attract and make good use of foreign investments. To achieve this, we should vigorously attract and effectively utilize foreign investments, concentrate on bolstering free trade zones and vital industrial zones and clusters, including the Three Areas (Science and Technology Innovation Area, International Business Service Area, and High-end Industrial Area), the Seven Clusters (Haidian, Changping, Chaoyang, Tongzhou, Shunyi, Daxing, E-Town Clusters), the airport economic zone and the comprehensive bonded zone in Beijing. Intensified efforts need to be made to go global and attract more foreign investments, along with the landing of new key foreign investment projects to improve trade and investment cooperation efficiency. We should also provide enterprises with targeted services to facilitate foreign investment and fortify foreign investors' confidence in future development in Beijing.

The conference also prioritized greater efforts to strengthen overall planning for the "Two Zones" development. In particular, the Integrated Coordination Office of the Development of the "Two Zones" should strengthen its crucial role of coordination, service and supervision. To promote pilot policy implementation in the capital, all working teams and departments must cooperate closely to enhance communication and understanding. Moreover, districts, clusters, and industrial parks should focus on landing projects so as to produce more practical outcomes. Furthermore, officials and cadres at all levels should foster greater international vision and enhance their professional capacity in supporting opening up and promoting development.