The cross-Straits direct sea route between Xiamen and Taiwan's Kinmen (WEI PEIQUAN)

For the past three decades, Xiamen has formed a multi-layered comprehensive open economy covering SEZ, bonded port area, Taiwan-invested zone, export processing area, bonded area and hi-tech park. By sticking to special policies, flexible measures, opening and reform, Xiamen has become an important concentration area for overseas investment and an important gateway for outbound trade and opening to the outside world.

High-level leaders' support

The construction of Xiamen SEZ won support from China's top leaders, such as Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin. They visited Xiamen and offered great support. Today's top leaders also care about the development of Xiamen SEZ and visited Xiamen many times.

President Hu Jintao was pleased with the construction and development of Xiamen SEZ and hoped that Xiamen could achieve more progress and improvements. In 2010, the State Council agreed to expand the scope of the Xiamen SEZ from Xiamen Island to the whole city. It means that Xiamen SEZ will have more space for development and that some problems bottlenecking its development will be tackled. The State Council said Xiamen will continue to serve as the trial plot to test some new institutional mechanisms and become a regional financial service center across the Taiwan Straits.

Some major reform measures in the financial sector were piloted in Xiamen and laid a solid foundation for Xiamen to build itself into a regional financial center. In addition, Xiamen has also been the pilot city for reform in other sectors. With all these reforms, Xiamen has become the National Demonstration City for Service Outsourcing, National Pilot City for Innovation, National Demonstration City for Modern Logistics, National Pilot City for Low Carbon Act, Convergence of Television, Internet and Telecom Services and Cross-Straits Cooperation on Food and Logistics.

More progress has been achieved in the reform of the administrative examination, investment and financing system, the medical and health system, and the cultural system. With these innovations, Xiamen has enjoyed more advantages.

Going global

In a bid to build itself into an international shipping hub port, Xiamen has pushed forward its integration of the port administration system and the construction of the domestic port for international cruise ships.

As the host city of the annual China International Fair for Investment and Trade and Xiamen International Marathon and Xiamen Pavilion in the Urban Best Practice Area (UBPA) of the Shanghai Expo 2010, Xiamen has gained wider recognition at home and abroad. On the morning of October 12, 2010, Italian international cruise ship Costa Romantica set sail for Taiwan via Xiamen and made a temporary stop in the city. Xiamen thus became China's first city to allow international cruise ships to stop at a number of Chinese coastal cities. By now construction of the first phase of Xiamen Haicang Bonded Port Zone has been finished and the zone is a customs special supervisory zone with the highest degree of opening, fullest range of functions and most preferential policies.

Xiamen now has 15 international sister cities and 18 international sister ports. It had trade relationship with 222 countries and regions in 2010 against 85 in 1981.

Opening to the outside

In the past 30 years, Xiamen has reformed its foreign trade administration system and set up a complete foreign trade system. Xiamen has been standing up to meet the challenges of diversified international trade markets with quality export products. In the past, agricultural products and primary industrial products took up the major part of its exports. Today, Xiamen's export was mainly dominated by machinery, electric products and textiles.