Reform takes the lead, industries undergo a transformation, and openness embraces inclusiveness. Over the past six years, the Yichang Free Trade Zone (YCFTZ) has emerged as a vital hub and platform for industry concentration, resource convergence, and expanded openness and its economy has stepped on a higher level.

　　“Innovation Plus” sparks market vitality

　　On May 19th, vials of Injection-grade Remazolam Besylate were produced along the production line of Yichang Humanwell Pharmaceutical, which is the first Class 1 new drug in Hubei province to be listed, breaking the 30-year stagnation of no innovative drugs in the field of anesthesia and sedation worldwide. The company achieved over 100 million yuan in sales revenue last year. As of now, it has successfully launched over 20 new products, ranking among the top in the province.

　　From 2017 to 2022, its revenue increased by 273%, soaring from 2.56 billion yuan to 7 billion yuan.

　　The success of Yichang Humanwell Pharmaceutical owes much to the fertile ground for innovation provided by the YCFTZ. In June 2020, the company invested 4 billion yuan to establish its global headquarters base in the YCFTZ Biomedical Industrial Park. In recent years, the company has collaborated on innovative projects with renowned research institutions such as the West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Wuhan University, and Tsinghua University. Currently, there are 220 ongoing research projects, including 11 Class 1 new drugs and 16 Class 2 new drugs, with 129 authorized patents and the formulation of 14 national standards.

　　Relying on leading enterprises, the FTZ has established a public service platform for scientific and technological innovation, benefiting companies in Yichang as well. Over the past six years, the FTZ has deepened the policy of “streamlining administration, delegating power, improving services” reform, accumulating 274 achievements in institutional innovation. The dividends of reform have gradually emerged, continuously igniting market vitality. Although the FTZ occupies only 0.13% of the city's land area, it has attracted nearly 21.5% of the city's new enterprises and 40% of foreign-funded enterprises, with over 10,000 new market entities established.

　　With flourishing projects and high productivity, the FTZ has initially formed industrial clusters in emerging industries such as new energy batteries, green chemicals, biomedicine, and high-end equipment manufacturing.

　　“Bonded Plus” saves time and cost

　　Yichang Brunp Recycling Company is entering the booming stage, however, due to the lack of bonded functions at Baiyang Port in Yichang, the company has to concentrate its import and export business at its headquarters in Foshan, Guangdong province, seriously affected its materials import and products export.

　　To solve this problem, a new bonded logistics park is being constructed at Baiyang Port. The Three Gorges Bonded Logistics Center, which is planned to be relocated this year, will provide a dual advantage of "bonded + port" to accelerate the development of moved-in enterprises. With the integrated operation of the bonded logistics center and Baiyang Port, imported and exported goods can be directly transported to the bonded zone. Calculating based on an import value of 20 billion RMB, the company can save nearly 60 million RMB in financial costs per year and is expected to drive an increase of over 50% in the city's foreign trade volume.

　　Deep-level reforms are driving a higher level of openness, and an increasing number of companies are seizing market opportunities. Yichang Mochen Pharmaceuticals benefited from the standardized factory buildings in the Yichang comprehensive bonded zone, enabling them to achieve rapid production. They have enjoyed preferential policies such as “bonded R&D,” “bonded logistics and warehousing,” “classified supervision,” and export tax refunds, effectively reducing operational costs and significantly accelerating the company’s internationalization.

　　The company obtained food safety licenses and FSSC22000 certification in 2021, and obtained a drug production license in December 2022. Huang Zhouzhou stated that they expect to launch raw materials medicine in August this year, injectable products next year, and iron supplement preparations in the following year. The company established an export team at the beginning of the year and is ready to engage in export trade.

　　Up to now, the Yichang Comprehensive Bonded Zone has attracted 83 foreign-oriented enterprises. In 2022, the import and export value reached 6.507 billion RMB, a year-on-year increase of 81.5%, accounting for 15.69% of the city’s total.

　　“Cross-border E-commerce Plus” propels new forms and models

　　To accelerate the development of new business formats and models, the Yichang Free Trade Zone is actively building a cross-border e-commerce “ecosystem” that focuses on “buying globally, selling globally, and broadcasting globally.” During the May Day holiday this year, Yichang C6 Cross-border Shopping in the Yichang Comprehensive Bonded Zone was bustling with people and its daily sales exceeded 60,000 yuan. Liu Ronghai, manager of Hubei Baozou Sports Supplies Co., Ltd, said that their overseas business was approaching $1 million last year.

　　To support the development of cross-border e-commerce, the FTZ has introduced professional service providers that offer various services such as government agency representation, business training, and enterprise growth to companies in the park. Currently, the park has attracted well-known e-commerce companies such as Alibaba, Amazon, and AliExpress.

　　On March 8th this year, Yichang International Live Broadcasting Base in the FTZ’s Cross-border E-commerce Industrial Park commenced operations, achieving deep integration of high-quality import-export supply chains and cross-border e-commerce new media matrix.

　　As of now, the Cross-border E-commerce Industrial Park has registered 177 companies, with total revenue surpassing 4 billion yuan. In 2022, it welcomed 52 new enterprises, generating revenue of 2.02 billion yuan and tax revenue of 25.31 million yuan. Over the next five years, the park aims to attract 200 companies and achieve operating revenue of 5 billion yuan, with imports and exports exceeding $500 million, while adopting an open mindset and coordinating both the international and domestic markets. (Reporters/Gao Wei & He Guanying, Correspondent/Zhou Tingting)