The State Council has rolled out 19 measures to promote trade and investment facilitation and deepen reform and innovation in pilot free trade zones (FTZs), according to a circular released on Sept 3.

Examination and approval of travel agencies with investments from service providers in Hong Kong and Macao will be delegated from provincial departments to the pilot FTZs, amid further opening-up to the special administrative regions.

Legal ship inspection institutions from overseas are allowed to carry out inspections on internationally registered ships in the pilot FTZs.

In eligible pilot FTZs, retail import of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment by cross-border e-commerce is allowed, and construction of ports for first-time imported drugs and biological products supported, to enhance import facilitation of medical products.

The circular also promoted opening-up of air traffic channels and acceleration of multimodal transport integration based on railway transportation.

New, diversified commodity futures with strong domestic demand and high external dependence will be brought to market in Shanghai, Liaoning and Henan pilot FTZs, to strengthen cooperation with future exchanges.

According to the circular, the pilot FTZs should experiment with unified processing of foreign and domestic currency accounts, in an effort to innovate bank account system management.

The circular also called for exploring securitization of intellectual property assets on a trial basis in eligible pilot FTZs, and better judicial review of arbitration.

It urged local governments and all related departments to put importance on improving construction and management of pilot FTZs, and promote implementation of those measures.