National legislators and political advisers from North China's Shanxi province recently expressed their support for the establishment of the China (Shanxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone in Shanxi at the 2021 annual sessions of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, which are ongoing in Beijing.

The Shanxi delegation to the NPC and the CPPCC National Committee members submitted the motion and the joint proposal for the zone's establishment at the two sessions.

According to the delegation, the establishment of the China (Shanxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone in Shanxi is urgently needed to explore new paths for the transformation of the resource and energy-based economy, to further promote the rise of Central China and the Belt and Road Initiative, to build a new inland highland of opening-up, and to promote the construction of a more open economy. 

Shanxi province has four unique advantages for establishing a provincial pilot free trade zone: essential platforms for reform and transformation, necessary conditions for future industries, an adequate supply of energy and resources, and a location linking the East to the West. 

The pilot free trade zone in Shanxi can complement other pilot free trade zones, helping to successfully develop free trade. 

The NPC deputies and CPPCC National Committee members from Shanxi are determined to build the China (Shanxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone into a high-level and high-standard free trade pilot zone with outstanding performance in free investment, trade and innovation. The zone should achieve economic power in three to five years.