Jiangsu - Zhangjiagang Free Trade Zone (Zhangjiagang FTZ)

Zhangjiagang Free Trade Zone (Zhangjiagang FTZ)/ Zhangjigang Bonded Logistic Park (Zhangjiagang BLP)

Facts and Figures (2007)

Source: Administration Commission of Zhangjiagang Free Trade Zone

Introduction

The Zhangjiagang Free Trade Zone (Zhangjiagang FTZ) was approved by the State Council in 1992, and is the only Chinese free trade zone located next to an inland river. The Zhangjigang Bonded Logistic Park (Zhangjiagang BLP), located within Zhangjiagang FTZ, got regulative approval in 2004. The two parks are located in the northwest of the Zhangjiagang Port, which has annual cargo throughput exceeding 1.2 million tons.

Zhangjiagang FTZ and Zhangjiagang BLP are located a distance of 173 km from Shanghai, 113 km from the Suzhou downtown area, 58 km from Wuxi, 220 km from Nanjing and 62 km from Nantong. It takes only one hour of travel time from the zones to Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou and Nantong, and two hours to Nanjing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Suzhou. The Nanjing Lukou International Airport, Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Shanghai Hongqiao Airport are also within two hours’ drive.

Investment Climate

In 2007, the GDP of the two zones was RMB 3.5 billion. It has attracted 45 foreign-funded projects with total registered capital reaching US$385 million in 2007. The foreign investments totaled US$765 million. In 2007, in the imports of the zones accumulated to 7.72 million tons, nearly double the figure accumulated in 2006.

After 16 years of development, Zhangjiagang FTZ formed industrial clusters in logistics of chemical products, textiles processing and edible oil processing. As an area supporting the development of Zhangjiagang FTZ, the bonded logistic park enjoys the related preferential policies of the Free Trade Zone and Export Processing Zone, and has four functions: namely, International Transfer, International Distribution, International Procurement and International Transit Trade.

Zhangjiagang FTZ is the only free-trade zone focusing on the logistics of chemicals. In 2007, over 668 chemical-related enterprises made their presence in the zone, including the international chemical giants Dow Chemicals, Chevron Philips, Dupont and Dow Corning. The combined sales revenue of the firms has reached RMB 21.6 billion. To further develop the logistics of chemicals in the zone, a chemical-trading market was set up in 2002. It was the first U.S. dollar-denominated chemical-trading platform in China.

The grains and oil processing industry has realized RMB 8.4 billion of industrial output, accounting for 38% of the zones’ total. The local government commenced construction of East China River and Ocean Grains & Edible Oils Market in the free trade zone with an investment value of RMB 1 billion in 2007. The major edible oil producers in the zones are Fuji Oil, Yijiang (Zhangjiagang) Cereals & Oils Industry Co. Ltd, and River & Ocean Cereals & Oils Group Co. Ltd.

Zhangjiagang FTZ is also an important transfer center for the textiles industry. The Textiles Raw Materials Market was inaugurated in the zone in July, 2007, covering an area of 500,000 m² for warehousing and logistics. By the end of 2007, the market had introduced 161 firms, the trading volume of which had reached RMB 5.2 billion.