Recently, the press conference for the fourth batch of provincial-level institutional innovation achievements of the China (Hunan) Pilot Free Trade Zone was held. The province collectively released 26 institutional innovation outcomes and facilitation service measures, with the county and district area contributing six pioneering and integrated reform initiatives.
Reportedly, the selected institutional innovation achievements and facilitation service measures cover areas such as high-quality industrial development, trade facilitation, transformation of government functions, and market-oriented allocation reform of production factors. These initiatives aim to achieve systemic institutional breakthroughs, unblock obstacles to inland openness, invigorate industrial development momentum, and reshape public service paradigms, providing replicable and promotable "Xingsha Practice" models to help Hunan become a highland for reform and opening up in inland regions.
Unblocking Cross-Border Circulation Bottlenecks to Forge New Channels for Inland Trade Openness
Without coastal or border advantages, how can a "golden key" be used to compensate for and enhance the competitive edge in efficient global connectivity? The county and district area focused on two major foreign trade pillars—construction machinery and cross-border e-commerce—addressing industry pain points such as shortcomings in inland airport logistics and cumbersome customs clearance procedures for large equipment, thereby constructing an interconnected, efficient, and low-cost cross-border logistics system.
In response to traditional issues like cumbersome supervision processes, high logistics costs, and the need for re-exportation and re-declaration due to shipping schedule changes in engineering machinery exports, the Changsha Free Trade Airport Area introduced a "combined" supervision model for engineering machinery exports. This model simplifies the customs supervision process for machinery entering and leaving the comprehensive bonded zone, adapts to the characteristics of large-scale complete equipment exports, and significantly reduces customs clearance and logistics costs.
From 2023 to the present, Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology Co., Ltd. and Sany Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. have exported over 5,200 sets of engineering machinery with a total value exceeding 5 billion yuan. From January to April 2026, export value reached 1.706 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 106.35%, strongly propelling equipment manufacturers into the international market.
To address pain points in cross-border e-commerce, such as small order sizes, high frequency, insufficient local direct air cargo capacity, and repetitive inspections from cross-customs zone declarations, the Changsha Free Trade Airport Area established a new supervision model for cross-customs zone transshipment exports of cross-border e-commerce. This model promotes paperless intelligent image review and coordinated cross-customs zone supervision, implementing "local inspection, port direct release." Overall customs clearance time has been shortened by 3-4 hours, and logistics costs have decreased by 30%. Simultaneously, it has attracted 15 leading cross-border e-commerce enterprises to establish operations, continuously lowering the barriers for small and medium-sized enterprises to expand overseas.
Cultivating the Green Industry Track to Build a New Ecology for Low-Carbon Circular Development
High-level environmental protection is a crucial support for high-quality development. How can industrial upgrading and ecological protection advance in synergy? The county and district area is focusing efforts on the circular economy, modern convention and exhibition services, and green energy, promoting the green transformation of industrial sectors, enhancing the quality of high-end services, and reforming the energy system towards low-carbon goals, thereby solidifying the foundation for a diversified county-level economy.
In the circular economy sector, the Changsha Economic and Technological Development Zone is implementing a new model for the circular utilization of green and low-carbon products. Focusing on the challenge of solid waste disposal, it has established a complete chain for construction waste recycling, processing, circular utilization, and market application, constructing a new model for the circular use of green and low-carbon products. The regional waste resource utilization rate has increased to 82%, and recycled building materials have achieved an output value of 600 million yuan, realizing a win-win situation for industrial development and ecological protection and providing a "Xingsha Solution" for the green transformation of manufacturing.
In the high-end modern services sector, the Changsha Free Trade Convention and Exhibition Area pioneered a statistical monitoring application mechanism for the convention and exhibition economy at the provincial level. By establishing a digital calculation model, it filled the gap in refined regulatory systems for the convention and exhibition industry, providing institutional support for the scaled and standardized development of Changsha's convention and exhibition sector and creating a benchmark for digital governance in the inland convention and exhibition industry.
In the field of energy factor reform, the Changsha Economic and Technological Development Zone, in collaboration with the Changsha Free Trade Airport Area, implemented a new power system model to empower green and low-carbon high-quality development in industrial parks. It took the lead in establishing a park-level green electricity value accounting and virtual power plant aggregation agency system, constructing a dual-track pricing mechanism for "physical electricity volume + environmental rights," and digitally achieving precise traceability of "one kilowatt-hour of electricity, one gram of carbon." This transforms enterprise electricity consumption data into a core credential for green credit and electricity price discounts. Enterprises' comprehensive electricity costs have decreased by 12% to 25%, annual carbon reduction amounts to 600,000 tons, and 43 national and provincial-level green factories have been cultivated, using electricity marketization reform to clear the institutional pathway for green and low-carbon transformation in industrial parks.
Deepening the Transformation of Government Functions to Achieve New Breakthroughs in Integrated Government Services
The county and district area is advancing reforms in streamlining administration, delegating power, improving regulation, and upgrading services, optimizing the business environment through inward-facing approval reforms to achieve precise regulation and maximally simplified procedures.
Addressing traditional challenges in industrial park manufacturing projects, such as lengthy environmental impact assessment cycles, complex approval processes, and high pollution rights trading costs, the Changsha Economic and Technological Development Zone implemented a categorized environmental impact assessment management model for industrial parks. For pilot industries like automobiles and general equipment, it eliminated the requirement for preparing environmental impact report forms and completing environmental protection acceptance upon completion. Enterprises now only need to independently fill out simplified forms, while a dynamic management mechanism for total pollutant emissions is simultaneously established.
Post-reform, the environmental impact assessment processing cycle for individual projects has been compressed from two months to one business day, saving over 100,000 yuan in assessment costs per project. This achieves a dual balance between precise ecological environment control and accelerated efficiency in project investment.
The mission is to test systems for the nation and seek development for the locality. In the next step, the county and district area will continue to effectively utilize the pilot field for institutional innovation within the Free Trade Zone, contributing stronger "Xingsha Power" to the construction of the Hunan Pilot Free Trade Zone and the development of the inland reform and opening-up highland.
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