"Invest in China" Special Event Presenting Pilot Free Trade Zones was successfully held by Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China under the framework of the 7th Hongqiao International Economic Forum at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) on the afternoon of November 5, 2024. Mr. Tang Wenhong, Assistant Minister of Commerce, Ms. Cecilia Ugaz Estrada, Deputy to the Director General and the Managing Director of the Directorate of Strategic Planning, Programming and Policy of UNIDO, and Mr. Joseph Romanelli, President, Human Health International for MSD, attended it and delivered addresses thereon. About 350 representatives from 9 Pilot Free Trade Zones (PFTZs) along the Yangtze River Economic Belt, international organizations, multinational corporations, and foreign business associations participated in the event.

Mr. Tang Wenhong, Assistant Minister of Commerce,  pointed out that, as a new highland of reform and opening up in the new era, PFTZs are pioneering and innovative and have played an important role in deepening the reform and opening-up in a comprehensive way so as to profoundly demonstrate China's determination and confidence in expanding opening up. Standing at the forefront of opening up, PFTZs will carry out explorations in a wider range of fields and at a deeper level, creating a more favorable business environment and providing a broader market space for Chinese and foreign enterprises at the new historical starting point.

Ms. Cecilia Ugaz Estrada, Deputy to the Director General of UNIDO, pointed out that PFTZs have become powerful tools for economic transformation, creating a liberalized environment for investment and trade and encouraging innovation and facilitating industrial growth, and made impressive achievements in this regard. She called for deepening strong partnerships among governments, private institutions, and regional organizations to continue leveraging the potential of PFTZs to jointly build a future of inclusive and sustainable development.

Mr. Joseph Romanelli, President, Human Health International for MSD, pointed out that as an advanced biopharmaceutical company in the world, MSD has always worked hand in hand with the Chinese government to respond to the changes of the times and get integrated into the frontiers of openness. MSD would continue to partner with the PFTZs to explore new models and paths in the biopharmaceutical industry, and offer scientific research strength and fulfill corporate social responsibility to promote the prosperous growth of the biopharmaceutical industry domestically and globally.

This event presented the development of the representative industries of new quality productive forces in the nine PFTZs along the Yangtze River Economic Belt including Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Hubei, Hunan, Chongqing, Sichuan, and Yunnan and aimed to provide a platform for deepening the cooperation between enterprises, business association and PFTZs in these sectors related to new quality productive forces. During the event, these nine PFTZs jointly released the Initiative on Interactive Development of the PFTZs along the Yangtze River Economic Belt, which focuses on 6 aspects including actively getting integrated into and serving national strategies, coordinatively promoting high-level opening up, further facilitating cross-regional sharing of market factors and resources so as to upgrade PFTZs to a high standard and jointly promote high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.