After 18 years’ development, the Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone, a highly open and special economic zone, boasts an annual average economic growth rate of 30 percent, playing an important role of serving and spurring the economic development in circum-Bohai Bay area and even in North China at large.

The Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone was established in May of 1991. Integrated with four major functions of international trade, modern logistics, near-harbor processing and manufacturing and commodity exhibition, the bonded zone is an important economic zone and the biggest of its kind in North China that enjoys preferential Customs, taxation and foreign exchange policies. To meet the development and opening-up demand of the Binhai New Area, Tianjin Airport Industrial Park, Tianjin Airport Logistics Zone and Bonded Logistics Park and Comprehensive Bonded Zone have been set up within the free trade zone, enriching its policies and functions and enhancing its overall competitiveness.

Making full advantages of the near-airport location and favorable taxation policies, the Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone has influences on the hinder land of North-east China, North China and North-west China. It also has commercial intercourses with more than 100 countries and regions worldwide. Eighteen years after its establishment, the bonded zone is on top of all the opening areas in terms of regional economic growth with foreign contract investment totaling US$20 billion and foreign investment in place of US$9.2 billion. There are approximately 7,000 companies registered and 112 enterprises among the World Top 500 investing in the zone.

As development campaign deepening, the Tianjin Airport Industrial Park is upgrading towards high-tech and high-end orientation, placing emphasis on three core industries, namely civil aviation, communication and information and equipment manufacturing. A bunch of world class aviation projects and companies have settled in the Park, including the general assembly line of Airbus A320, Goodrich Corporation, PPG Industries, Thales Navigation of France, Lufthansa of Germany, the helicopter project of CAIC and the wing project with Xi’an Aircraft, etc, which makes the aviation segment a new growth engine for Tianjin. The communication and information segment in the park has undergone an upgrade, with the entry of major projects, such as ZTE, Datang, VIA, Softstone and CSC of the US. The equipment manufacturing sector is also witnessing a robust development, with investment from Caterpillar, Magna, Alstom, Oshkosh Corporation, Alcan, Liugong Machinery, etc. Modern service business, such as headquarter economy, exhibition economy, finance, outsourcing, commerce, are also thriving. It is expected that the added value stemming from the service industry is to surpass 190 billion yuan by 2015.

It is planned that the Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone and the Tianjin Airport Industrial Park are going to be built into a bonded international logistic hub and a multi-functional service base with the aviation industry as the core business. It will be a first-class opening-up area with distinctive industrial characteristics, prominent priority orientation and high internationalization level