Since officially approved by the State Council on July 23, 2008, Beijing Tianzhu Free Trade Zone has attracted over 300 enterprises to operate and more than 100 enterprises to register in the zone.

Chinadaily.com.cn had an exclusive interview with Zhuang Jie, the vice director of the Beijing Tianzhu Free Trade Zone management commission on September 21, 2011.

Zhuang said Beijing Tianzhu Free Trade Zone is the first airport-based comprehensive bonded area in China and is seamlessly connected with Beijing Capital International Airport.

Located in the northeast of Beijing, the zone is not only a bonded area, but also an export processing zone and bonded port zone, with a general planning area of 5,944 square kilometers.

The zone enjoys various preferential policies such as duty free for foreign goods, tax refund for domestic goods and no value added tax or consumption tax while trading within the zone, which will largely cut costs for enterprises.

According to Zhuang, international logistics, inspection and maintenance, international trade, featured finance, bonded exhibition, bonded R&D, and bonded processing are the key industries of the zone. The bonded exhibition is the featured industry of the zone, which includes exhibitions of luxury bags, cars and artworks.

Many well-known domestic and foreign enterprises have already invested in the zone, such as Johnson & Johnson, Air China and Merck Serono.

The free trade zone is now inviting more investments, Zhuang said.