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Special economic zones : progress, emerging challenges, and future directions
Ask three people to describe a special economic zone (SEZ) and three very different images may emerge. The first person may describe a fenced-in industrial estate in a developing country, populated by footloose multinational corporations (MNCs) enjoying tax breaks, with laborers in garment factories working in substandard conditions. In contrast, the second person may recount the 'miracle of Shenzhen,' a fishing village transformed into a cosmopolitan city of 14 million, with per capita gross domestic product (GDP) growing 100-fold, in the 30 years since it was designated as an SEZ. A third person may think about places like Dubai or Singapore, whose ports serve as the basis for wide range of trade- and logistics-oriented activities. In this book, the author use SEZ as a generic expression to describe the broad range of modern economic zones discussed in this book. But we are most concerned with two specific forms of those zones: (1) the export processing zones (EPZs) or free zones, which focus on manufacturing for export; and (2) the large-scale SEZs, which usually combine residential and multiuse commercial and industrial activity. The former represents a traditional model used widely throughout the developing world for almost four decades. The latter represents a more recent form of economic zone, originating in the 1980s in China and gaining in popularity in recent years. Although these models need not be mutually exclusive (many SEZs include EPZ industrial parks within them), they are sufficiently different in their objectives, investment requirements, and approach to require a distinction in this book.
eBook
Have China’s Pilot Free Trade Zones Improved Green Total Factor Productivity?
Free trade zones (FTZ) are designated areas for promoting trade openness and investment facilitation. In China, FTZs are also regarded as “green areas” in which planning actions and institutional innovations are implemented, and there is a commitment to promoting urban green and healthy development. Given that green total factor productivity (GTFP) is an important measure of a city’s health and green performance, this study exploits the difference-in-differences method to explore the impact of pilot FTZs on urban GTFP in 280 cities in China for the period between 2005 and 2017. The results show that the green areas positively contributed to the growth of GTFP. Moreover, the outcome holds with robustness tests. Statistically, the positive effect emerged in cities during the first three years after introducing the initiative, with the effect disappearing afterward. It also had a strong positive impact in the central and western regions and in large and medium-sized cities, while the influence remained insignificant in the remaining areas in China. Furthermore, the paper also reveals that the promotion of foreign direct investment and industrial structure upgrading are the primary channels through which the positive relationship between pilot FTZs and GTFP is established.
Journal Article
The impact and mechanisms of the Shanghai pilot free-trade zone on the green total factor productivity of the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration
Free-trade zones are highlands of regional development that have a radiating effect on surrounding cities. This paper uses Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration (YRDUA) data from 2003 to 2018, to examine the impact of the China (Shanghai) pilot free-trade zone (SPFTZ) on green total factor productivity (GTFP) in the YRDUA. It uses the regression discontinuity (RD) method and analyzes the influence mechanism with the help of the mediating effect model. The paper presents the following major findings. The establishment of the SPFTZ significantly promoted GTFP in the YRDUA, with technological progress being the main driving force. An analysis using the mediating effect model found that financial efficiency and industrial structure upgrading play a complete mediating role in GTFP growth in the YRDUA. Therefore, the SPFTZ should make use of its policy advantages, take full advantage of the effect of the green growth pole, and promote green mutual development with the YRDUA.
Journal Article
Current and potential research directions on the law of free trade zones: A bibliometric analysis (2004–2024)
This study aims to explore and identify key past research directions and propose future research avenues related to the legal framework of free trade zones (FTZs). The bibliometric data were collected through the Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) database systems. After merging the datasets and filtering English-language publications from 2004 to 2024, a total of 103 documents were retained. The research methodology employed in this study includes descriptive statistics and keyword co-occurrence analysis, supported by the VOSViewer software. The findings reveal that China is the leading country in publishing research on the legal aspects of FTZs. Past studies have formed four clusters corresponding to four fundamental research directions. They include (1) Arbitration and dispute resolution in China’s free trade areas; (2) The impact of international trade laws and regulations on risk assessment and tax systems in global trade, including FTZs; (3) The role of financial and governance regulations in pilot FTZs; and (4) The legal framework and impact of FTZs in Shanghai and special economic zones on international trade. This study contributes evidence showing that China is a pioneering country in researching, developing, and refining legal policies for free trade zones in order to enhance its impact on the global economy. AcknowledgmentsThe authors would like to thank the Editor-in-Chief and a reviewer for their helpful comments, which, in our view, have significantly improved the quality of the manuscript. This study is also the result of collaboration between researchers from the University of Law, Hue University, and Duy Tan University. The authors would like to thank both institutions for their support and facilitation in the publication of this research.
Journal Article
Does the dispute resolution mechanism influence investment trust in free trade zones? Insights from business managers in Vietnam
Type of the article: Research Article AbstractThis study aims to examine and measure the impact of the dispute resolution mechanism (including its effectiveness of dispute resolution mechanism, government support, and the quality of the legal system) on trust in the investment environment within free trade zones (FTZs), as perceived by business managers. The data were gathered through a survey of 780 managers representing enterprises operating in 18 economic zones from October 2024 to February 2025 in Vietnam, a developing country in Southeast Asia. The results of the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis indicate that the dispute resolution mechanism influences trust in the investment climate within FTZs through the mediating roles of two key factors: trust in the dispute resolution mechanism and perceived risks in business management. Moreover, trust in the dispute resolution mechanism within FTZs is shaped by three factors, ranked in ascending order of positive impact: (1) quality of the legal system, (2) effectiveness of the dispute resolution mechanism, and (3) government support. Meanwhile, only the quality of the legal system has a statistically significant negative impact on the perception of business management risks. These findings underscore the need to enhance the legal framework governing FTZs, improve law enforcement mechanisms, strengthen investor protection, and support businesses in legal compliance. These challenges pose critical policy considerations for countries aiming to develop and implement the FTZs model effectively. AcknowledgmentThe authors would like to thank the Editor-in-Chief and a reviewer for their helpful comments that in our view have helped to improve the quality of the manuscript significantly. Besides, this study is the result of collaboration between researchers from the School of Law, Hue University, and Duy Tan University. The authors would like to thank both institutions for their support and facilitation in the publication of this research.
Journal Article
The effect of the pilot free trade zone policy on carbon emissions: evidence from China
The pilot free trade zone (PFTZ) policy is an important strategic initiative to lead green and high-quality economic development. Based on panel data from 2012 to 2019 of 287 Chinese cities, this study systematically investigates the effect of the PFTZ policy on carbon emissions by building the staggered difference-in-difference (DID) model. The results showed that the PFTZ policy significantly reduced carbon emissions and that this reduction effect increased over time. These findings hold true after robustness tests. Additionally, the heterogeneity analysis showed that the carbon emission reduction effect was more significant in coastal areas. In terms of impact mechanisms, the main driving force of carbon emission reduction from the PFTZ policy is technological progress. Furthermore, the PFTZ policy has a spatial spillover effect, which can drive neighboring cities to reduce their carbon emissions. This study provides useful policy insights for building a green low-carbon trade system and helps achieve carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals.
Journal Article
How to Evaluate the Green and High-Quality Development Path? An FsQCA Approach on the China Pilot Free Trade Zone
In today’s world, green development has become an important trend, and many countries regard the development of green industry as an important measure to promote economic restructuring. Green development is consistent with sustainable development in ideology. China’s economy is in the stage of high-quality development. As an important foundation for China’s external economic development, the free trade zone can play a good role in promoting its green and high-quality development. Based on the data of 18 free trade zones in China in 2020, this paper explores the green and high-quality development path of the China Pilot Free Trade Zone. Firstly, the green development index is constructed according to the existing research and experience, and then the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis method is used to evaluate the green and high-quality development path. The results show that the development of pilot free trade zones is not the result of a single condition but the result of a combination of green policy effectiveness, foreign investment participation, green production growth rate, and other conditions. Combined with the green and high-quality development path, this paper further provides enlightenment for the development of the China Pilot Free Trade Zone.
Journal Article
Impact of Free Trade Zones on Chinaʼs ICT Products Trade: A PSM‐DID Analysis
It investigates the impact of Chinaʼs FTZs on the countryʼs trade in ICT products—a sector central to Chinaʼs industrial digitisation and integration into global value chains—by applying a propensity score matching difference‐in‐differences (PSM‐DID) approach to bilateral trade data between China and 35 partner countries from 2000 to 2022. The analysis finds that the expansion of Chinaʼs FTZ network, which by the end of 2023 encompassed 22 agreements with 29 countries and regions and accounted for roughly one‐third of Chinaʼs total foreign trade, has significantly boosted ICT trade. Specifically, the establishment of FTZs is associated with increases of 21.0% in overall trade volume, 11.1% in imports, and 52.7% in exports of ICT products with partner countries. The results further reveal that economic status, openness, internet development, education levels, and government efficiency in partner countries are positively correlated with ICT trade flows. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the trade‐enhancing effects of FTZs are stronger for imports than exports and vary according to the economic and developmental characteristics of partner countries, with FTZ benefits materialising gradually over time. These findings contribute to how FTZs shape Chinaʼs participation in the global ICT value chain and inform policy on the design and implementation of trade zones.
Journal Article
Effects and Mechanisms of China’s Pilot Free Trade Zones on Green and High-Quality Development from the Dual-Circulation Perspective
Under the dual pressure of economic growth and environmental pressure, green and high-quality development become a critical strategy for China to achieve win-win development for both the economy and the environment. In the dual-circulation pattern, a deep and high level of openness is the primary prerequisite for encouraging green and high-quality development. Previous studies have overlooked the crucial pivotal role of pilot free trade zones (PFTZs) in domestic and international circulation. The PFTZ is essential in driving China’s green modernization and high-quality development as a crucial area of opening up. This paper utilizes the propensity score matching and difference-in-differences (PSM-DID) on panel data from 27 provinces from 2007 to 2020 to investigate the green policy effects of PFTZ building and its underlying mechanism. The results show that (1) the establishment of PFTZs significantly enhances regional green and high-quality development, with a net policy impact of roughly 4%. The several robustness tests demonstrate that the outcomes are extremely reliable; (2) According to the heterogeneity analysis, compared with inland areas, coastal locations may more effectively foster green and high-quality development; and (3) The influencing mechanism test results show that PFTZs primarily have a positive impact on technological progress, scale expansion, and innovation-driven effects, which, in turn, support green and high-quality development. The mediating effect of innovation-driven and technological progress is extremely significant among them. These research findings can provide empirical support and policy rationale for PFTZs to better promote China’s green and high-quality development.
Journal Article