The building of pilot free trade zones is a strategic measure taken by the Party Central Committee to promote reform and opening-up in the new era. It serves as a milestone in China's reform and opening-up progress. This year marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up, and the 5th anniversary of the construction of the Pilot Free Trade Zone. So in order to fully demonstrate the measures taken, progress made, accomplishments achieved and significance played of the Sichuan Pilot Free Trade Zone, the reporter has launched a special program of online interview named [the "Addition and Subtraction" of Sichuan Free Trade] which aims at calculating the experimental exploration and progress made by the Sichuan Pilot Free Trade Zone in this phase from the perspective of the "added" momentum spurred by economic vitality and the "reduced" impediment by streamlining administration and delegating powers.

Chengdu Qingbaijiang Railway Port Area of Sichuan Pilot Free Trade Zone. Photo provided by the Department of Publicity of the District Party Committee of Chengdu Qingbaijiang Area

The China Railway Express (Chengdu-European Express) has become the center of attention since its opening. Recently, she has produced the "records" from January to October 2018: Up to now, the China Railway Express (Chengdu-European Express) has offered links connecting 14 domestic cities and 22 overseas ones, running a total of 1084 trains for the first 10 months of this year, registering an year-on-year increase of 68.6%; the value of goods amounted to 4.553 billion US dollars, representing an increase of 37.97%...

This group of awesome data has revealed the achievements of innovation reforms made by Chengdu Qingbaijiang Railway Port Area in Sichuan Pilot Free Trade Zone since its establishment in 2017: 24 new measures to reduce the charges of Chengdu railway ports and 9 items to bring down the charges of the Chengdu Railway Bonded Logistics Center ( Type B) have been initiated, so as to further lowering the cost of enterprises; the paperless reform of customs clearance has been introduced to guarantee its integration, etc., thus reducing the customs clearance time by one-third and increasing the overall customs clearance efficiency by 75%; new bonded warehousing business for finished automobiles in the Chengdu Railway Bonded Logistics Center (Type B) has been launched, which has extended the tariff-free period from the two months to as long as three years...

Introducing favorable policies to bring people tangible benefits and free them from unnecessary costs has become a good driving force for the accelerated development of Chengdu Qingbaijiang Railway Port Area. "As owners of companies, we have enjoyed the tangible dividends brought about by the policies introduced in the Free Trade Zone over the past year. The pressures and difficulties we faced in the past have been gradually lessoned." Shi Ruifeng, General Manager of Sichuan Chengdu-European Zhilian Technology Co., Ltd, remarked. What kind of opportunity and vitality did the Free Trade Zone offer to the cross-border e-commerce boss? What kind of convenience and efficiency has the zone brought to him? Today, Shi Ruifeng, a business man engaged in the international trade of red wine, walked into the interview studio to share with the reporter and netizens about his achievements and growth trajectory together with the Pilot Free Trade Zone over the past 550 days.

A wall painted with special pictures is erected in the tasting room of Sichuan Chengdu-European Zhilian Technology Co., Ltd. It captures a wine estate and the Eiffel Tower with a strong tinge of European style, and the Chengdu Global Center and Tianfu Square typical of Chengdu flavor, which are connected by the cutely painted China Railway Express. This cute and simple painting embodies the business trick of Shi Ruifeng, the general manager of Sichuan Chengdu-European Zhilian Technology Co., Ltd. – riding the tide of the Free Trade Zone construction to bring more European wines to Sichuan through China Railway Express and to bring more honored Sichuan food to Europe.

Reporter: what has changed in your eyes since your return to Chengdu to start your wine business in 2014?

Shi Ruifeng: I majored in wine in a university in Bordeaux of France. I remembered the saying of our teacher that he would like to act as a bridge and introduce the fine wines of Bordeaux in France to China, enabling the Chinese people to enjoy the pure wine of Bordeaux. Therefore, when I returned to Chengdu in 2014, I started my own business in international wine trading.

I think the biggest change in the past few years has to be the change in the mode of trade. I used to import wine from France to Chengdu by sea transportation from the French port to Shanghai, Qingdao or Shenzhen port, and then transfer it to Chengdu. The whole transportation process would take at least 2 months. But now, the wine can be transported directly from Tilburg of Netherlands to Chengdu Qingbaijiang Railway Port through the China Railway Express. The transportation time via the railway section would take only 10 days or more, and the total time is limited to less than a month. This time-saving efficiency has reduced the cost of transportation by a large amount.

Reporter: what changes have you experienced personally since the establishment of the Sichuan Pilot Free Trade Zone?

Shi Ruifeng: It has mainly equipped me with more confidence! Sometimes, I even feel that I have advanced to the forefront of wine trade from my once marginal position. In the early days of my entrepreneurship, I encountered many difficulties. Many European wine companies haven’t heard about Chengdu, some are daunted by the high cost of cross-border transportation, and the potential risks in market acceptance. However, after the establishment of the Pilot Free Trade Zone, many European companies have approached me in person to express their interest in the China Railway Express and their wishes to expand business in Chengdu market.

In addition to the changes in my own part, I also feel the big transformation in wine acceptance of Chengdu people. In the past, in addition to the exhibitions such as the China Food and Drinks Fair and the Western China International Fair, Chengdu rarely held special wine tastings and professional wine exhibitions. However, with the establishment of the Pilot Free Trade Zone, the increased policy support for cross-border e-commerce, and the convenience brought about by the China Railway Express, the cost of the wine companies has been reduced. As such, more people began to realize that wine is a consumer product rather than a luxury, an idea deep-rooted in the early years.

Reporter: The Sichuan Pilot Free Trade Zone has been unveiled for 600 days, and your company has been established for 550 days. So your company is basically grown together with the Pilot Free Trade Zone. If you are asked to calculate the benefits brought about by the policies of Pilot Free Trade Zone, what kind of "added benefits" have these policies offered for your company?

Shi Ruifeng: what a pretty interesting question! If we are saying real tangible "added benefits", the first one is the boosted confidence that I mentioned earlier, and the second one is the opportunities and attention brought to my business, which has enabled me to enjoy more policy support.

In fact, the three words of "free trade zone" already served as a gilded signboard for attraction. After the unveiling of the Qingbaijiang Railway Port Area in Chengdu, people's attention to railway transportation began to shift to the Qingbaijiang Railway Port Area and then to the China Railway Express. The efficient international logistics channel has pushed Chengdu to the forefront of trade. Since then, it has been given the title of “Western Gateway” and “International Opening-up Channel”. Such opportunities constitute considerable appeals to enterprises. I am rooting for the advantages of the Qingbaijiang Railway Port Area in the Pilot Free Trade Zone, and for the development prospects of cross-border e-commerce. I also want to ride such opportunities and have a head start by taking advantages of the free trade zone construction. That's the way my company emerged in the world.

This year, the Pilot Free Trade Zone has offered my company a big opportunity: the creation of the National Pavilion of France and Netherlands. According to our plan, we will build a B2B trading platform to help more overseas companies to contact with local enterprises. We will also add more cultural and artistic elements in the national pavilion to bring more useful outcomes of between the collision of Chinese and Western cultures.

Reporter: So what do you think the Pilot Free Trade Zone has done to “reduce” the burdens hindering the development of enterprises?

Shi Ruifeng: There is plenty. And our company is one of the real beneficiaries of such “reduction”. For example, many approval processes have been simplified now, and the speed of customs clearance has been improved. This has saved me a lot of labor costs, material resources and time costs, which had in return maximized our benefits to a certain degree.

Let me give you an example. The preferential tax policies of the state for cross-border e-commerce enterprises in the Pilot Free Trade Zone have enabled us to bring in more higher-quality products at a more affordable price for the ordinary public. Taking wine as an example, previously I had to pay more than 100 yuan for a bottle of wine imported at a price of 200 yuan, but now I only need to pay a little over 40 yuan. This reduction is pretty considerable. Thanks to the favorable policies of the Pilot Free Trade Zone, our company has transformed from a small wine trading company to a cross-border e-commerce, and formed our own professional wine supply chain.

In addition, I think the biggest change lies in the simplification of procedures and registration processes. Let me give you another example. Our goods can be delivered in the morning and arrive as soon as the afternoon by means of the "one bill-of-lading system", early declaration, and such favorable policies. At present, the Qingbaijiang Railway Port Area has implemented a paperless reform of customs clearance. In the past, we had to provide loads of paper-printed materials for customs declaration. Now these paper-printed materials are not needed at all. And the cargo clearance time can be reduced by one-third from the previous time.

Chengdu Qingbaijiang Railway Port Area of Sichuan Pilot Free Trade Zone. Photo provided by the Department of Publicity of the District Party Committee of Chengdu Qingbaijiang Area

Reporter: Going forward, what other plans do you have in mind with the backing of the Pilot Free Trade Zone platform?

Shi Ruifeng: My current goal is to build the largest wine center in the western part of China by riding the tide of the Pilot Free Trade Zone, so as to enable ordinary people to taste authentic European wines and learn about wine cultures at home.

At the same time, I also want to rely on the platform of the National Pavilion to introduce not only the European wines to Sichuan through the China Railway Express, but also bring global more Sichuan honored brands to the European countries. Imagining such a scene, in the future, we Sichuanese can drink authentic French wine while having hot pots; and the French people can also enjoy Sichuan’s liquor and spirits while eating steaks. Such collision of Chinese and European cultures is so fascinating!