The foreign trade of the Kunming Free Trade Zone surpassed 10 billion yuan last year. This year, the Kunming Free Trade Zone aims to achieve a comprehensive ranking in annual development performance of the middle level in central and western China, and to achieve an average annual growth rate of over 10% in foreign trade from 2023 to 2025, and aims to become a signature opening platform for the development and construction along the China-Laos Railway.

Currently, the Kunming Free Trade Zone has initially built a "dual-wheel drive" of bonded logistics and bonded processing, a "2+1+N" industrial layout for the coordinated development of cross-border e-commerce and other bonded services. The Kunming Economic and Technological Development Zone and the Kunming Area of China (Yunnan) Pilot Free Trade Zone make innovative integration development, focusing on promoting the development of new forms of modern service industries, such as inspection and maintenance, aviation training, and cross-border e-commerce. The Kunming Airport Economic Zone and the Dian Zhong New Area make deep integration development, creating an airport comprehensive bonded zone with bonded logistics, processing trades and airport services playing a leading role to promote the construction of a radiation center facing South Asia and Southeast Asia.

In 2022, the foreign trade of the Kunming Free Trade Zone exceeded 10 billion yuan, reaching 13.536 billion yuan, ranking 83rd among 148 Comprehensive Bonded Zones in China. The trade volume of bonded processing trades such as gold and grain reached 2.474 billion yuan, increasing 1195% year-on-year.

Since the establishment of direct export and overseas warehouse export modes, the number of shipments has increased from less than a million orders in 2019 to 11.21 million orders in 2022, covering seven Southeast Asian countries including Thailand and India. 6 companies in the park have set up overseas warehouses in countries such as Thailand, Myanmar, and South Africa to upgrade from B2C to B2B. In 2022, the cross-border e-commerce trade volume in the entire area reached 748 million yuan, and the proportion of cross-border e-commerce imports increased by 8.1%, which gradually optimized the structure.

Next, the Kunming Free Trade Zone will seize the historical opportunity of the implementation of RCEP and the opening and operation of the China-Laos railway, focus on industrial weak links and develop its advantages, and focus on the "dual-drive" of bonded logistics and bonded processing, work together to build a "bonded logistics distribution center""special processing and manufacturing center""cross-border e-commerce sales service center" for South Asia and Southeast Asia, and strive to build a signature opening platform for the development and construction along the China-Laos Railway. The specific goal is to achieve an average annual growth rate of foreign trade of more than 10% from 2023 to 2025. By 2023, the comprehensive ranking in annual development performance reaches the middle level in central and western China, and remain the middle level in China by 2025, continuously promoting high-level regional opening-up and high-quality development.

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(Editors: Amy, Lexi)