The Overall Plan for China (Inner Mongolia) Pilot Free Trade Zone (hereinafter referred to as the "Overall Plan") was recently issued. This is an important strategic measure to further deepen reform comprehensively, promote high-level opening up to the outside world, and promote high-quality development. The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, located on the northern border of China, has more than 4200 kilometers of border lines, 20 ports open to the outside world, and land ports with the highest freight volume in the country for consecutive years. It is tasked with building an important gateway for China's northward opening-up. Now, with the official approval of the Inner Mongolia Pilot Free Trade Zone, the door to opening up to the north is opening wider and more steadily. Setting sail with the wind, the key to the system opens up new space. Inner Mongolia's opening up to the outside world once faced the dilemma of "big channels, small platforms", and the construction of Inner Mongolia Pilot Free Trade Zone has become the "institutional key" to break this dilemma. The implementation scope of Inner Mongolia Pilot Free Trade Zone is 119.74 square kilometers, covering three areas: Hohhot area of 76.28 square kilometers (including Hohhot Comprehensive Bonded Zone of 0.88 square kilometers), Manzhouli area of 25.11 square kilometers (including Manzhouli Comprehensive Bonded Zone of 1.44 square kilometers), and Erenhot area of 18.35 square kilometers. The Hohhot area focuses on developing strategic emerging industries such as new energy, new materials, biomedicine, and new generation information technology, as well as characteristic industries such as green agricultural and livestock product processing and dairy industry. It aims to create a core hub for the country's opening up to the north and an innovative agglomeration area for high-quality development of characteristic industries. The Manzhouli area focuses on developing characteristic industries such as imported resource processing, cross-border tourism, cross-border finance, and port services, and creating an important window that radiates Northeast Asia and Europe, as well as an important platform for open cooperation between China, Russia, and Mongolia. The Erlianhaote area focuses on developing characteristic industries such as international trade, international logistics, cross-border tourism, and international healthcare, creating an important hub for the China Mongolia Russia Economic Corridor and a demonstration model for friendly cooperation with neighboring countries. The overall plan revolves around the strategic positioning and development goals of Inner Mongolia Pilot Free Trade Zone, proposing 19 specific measures in seven areas, including building an important trade node that connects domestic and foreign markets, improving the quality and efficiency of two-way investment cooperation, opening up the international corridor to the north, constructing a modern industrial system with distinctive advantages, creating a first-class scientific and technological innovation ecosystem, deepening comprehensive cooperation both domestically and internationally, and creating an open platform for integrating elements. This key has its unique features. This is the first pilot free trade zone in the northern border region that faces both Russia and Mongolia simultaneously. The pilot free trade zone is a highland for institutional innovation, "said Zhang Jingzhou, Deputy Director of Hohhot Customs. In the next step, the customs will focus on the supervision of agricultural and food products and bulk resource commodities, industrial and foreign trade transformation, and innovative customs clearance models, and take the lead in promoting a number of reform measures to be implemented, so that institutional dividends can be quickly transformed into a sense of gain for enterprises. Pursuing dreams outward, entrepreneurs stand on a new starting line. The value of free trade zones should lie in industrial agglomeration. For a long time, Inner Mongolia's exports have mainly focused on resource-based primary products, and the pilot free trade zone is providing a breakthrough path for this structural weakness. The overall plan proposes to build a modern industrial system with distinctive advantages. In Hohhot Economic and Technological Development Zone, Inner Mongolia Shuangjie Saidu Electric Co., Ltd. is accelerating the layout of the transformer track and plans to land all export business in Inner Mongolia. The accelerated upgrading of the global new energy grid is an irreversible trend, and the demand for transformers will continue to grow, "said Bao Andi, the company's planning manager. To support these outward oriented manufacturing enterprises, the customs has extended the incentive mechanism of AEO certification (certified operators enjoy customs clearance convenience in more than 50 tariff zones around the world) upwards - jointly introducing supporting policies with multiple departments such as commerce, taxation, and finance, allowing enterprises that have obtained "international passports" to enjoy more policy dividends and form a more complete export support system. If green equipment manufacturing is Inner Mongolia's "hard power" in opening up to the outside world, the rising green computing power of Helingeer New Area represents the deeper "digital potential" of this land. Xuanwu Intelligent Computing (Inner Mongolia) Information Technology Co., Ltd. operates over 30000 graphics cards and has reached a strategic cooperation agreement with Saudi Telecom to establish a Middle East regional headquarters in Riyadh. After the approval of the pilot free trade zone, cross-border data trading cooperation will also receive more support, and the company will also achieve greater development in this field, "said Li Pengbo, the deputy general manager of the company. The cross-border e-commerce field is also full of vitality. We have stable new orders every month, "said Mu Jianfang, the person in charge of Inner Mongolia Yingshi Shanglian International Trade Co., Ltd. Inner Mongolia Pilot Free Trade Zone will further support Hohhot to build an international express center and a regional international postal express hub, which will increase support for cross-border e-commerce and give enterprises confidence in their future development. The revitalization of ports and the acceleration of the Golden Corridor reflect institutional innovation as a sunflower seed rushes forward. Sunflower seeds produced in Bayannur City, western Inner Mongolia, need to be inspected at the production site before being transported to logistics hubs for assembly and shipment. However, sometimes due to changes in train schedules, contract adjustments, and other factors, exports are subject to certain uncertainties. Hohhot Customs is exploring ways to support enterprises in independently choosing to handle inspection services at production sites or logistics hubs based on their needs. This will provide more tailored regulatory services for enterprises, helping them save time and reduce costs. At the same time, it will guide upstream and downstream supporting enterprises to gather at logistics hubs and extend the production and processing industry chain. Innovative systems with small incisions like this can solve many practical problems. The overall plan proposes to open up the international corridor to the north, deepen the construction of smart ports in Manzhouli and Erenhot, support the construction, operation, maintenance, and upgrading of port infrastructure and inspection facilities, and promote intelligent supervision between land ports and customs supervision workplaces. At the Erenhot highway port, by 2025, only Erenhot Huanyu International Logistics Co., Ltd. will undertake about 100000 outbound trains, continuously transporting building materials, daily necessities, and mechanical equipment to Mongolia. Batugurile, a Mongolian businessman who has been operating building materials logistics in Erenhot for 14 years, said that the most obvious change is the speed of customs clearance - "from Erenhot Port in China to Zamyn Uud Port in Mongolia, the clearance time only takes 5 to 15 minutes." The overall plan also proposes innovative development of border trade, accelerating the digital transformation and upgrading of border trade service platforms and regulatory systems, implementing layered inspection and classified supervision of imported goods in border trade, and exploring and optimizing the supervision mode of export goods in border trade. Ye Siyang, the general manager of Erenhot Yongsheng Investment Co., Ltd., operates the Erenhot Border Trade Zone. In 2023, the trade volume of the trade zone reached over 300 million yuan, and by 2025, it has exceeded 800 million yuan, ranking first in the entire region. After the approval of the pilot free trade zone, many explorations have more comprehensive policy basis, "he said. Luo Qing, Director of the Department of Commerce of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, stated that the Inner Mongolia Pilot Free Trade Zone is a newly established pilot free trade zone after the implementation of the strategy of upgrading the pilot free trade zone by the Party Central Committee and the State Council. It has injected strong impetus into Inner Mongolia's further comprehensive deepening of reform and expansion of high-level opening up. In the next step, we will conscientiously implement the strategic positioning of "five centers", "one highland", "one demonstration area" and "one strategic pivot", take institutional innovation as the core, deeply implement the strategy of upgrading the pilot free trade zone, carry out pioneering and integrated exploration, further enhance the implementation quality and efficiency of Inner Mongolia's mission as an important gateway for the country to open up to the north, and contribute Inner Mongolia's strength to the comprehensive deepening of reform in the new era, especially to promoting higher-level opening up of border and inland areas. (New Society)