- Hunan has issued a comprehensive FTZ upgrade plan built around six core tasks to advance institutional opening. 湖南已发布以六大核心任务为支撑、推进制度型开放的自贸试验区全面提升方案。
- The plan sets 2030 targets across four designated zones covering industry, China–Africa, regional coordination, and talent. 方案设定到 2030 年建成产业、对非、区域协同与人才四类重点区域的目标。
- Trade facilitation hinges on a full “customs–tax–FX–clearing” chain for new trade forms and an innovated tariff guarantee model. 贸易便利化依托新业态”关—税—汇—清”全链条与创新的关税担保模式。
- Two-way investment opening advances QFLP balance-management-system innovation to attract overseas and private-equity capital. 投资双向开放推进合格境外有限合伙人（QFLP）余额管理制度创新，吸引海外与私募资本。
- Industrial innovation backs core manufacturing equipment and builds “AI+” public training grounds for application scenarios. 产业创新支持关键基础制造装备，并建设”人工智能+”特色应用场景公共训练场。
- China–Africa cooperation deepens via a pilot zone, African specialty parks, cross-border logistics, and a dedicated payment-settlement system. 对非合作通过先行区、非洲特色产业园、跨境物流与专属支付结算体系走向纵深。
- A foreign-professional service platform and easier FX access round out the plan’s people-centred measures. 外籍人士服务平台与更便利的用汇安排，构成方案以人为中心的配套举措。
Hunan FTZ Upgrade Plan: Six Tasks to Deepen Institutional Opening | 湖南自贸试验区提升战略实施方案：六大任务深化制度型开放
Overview
In August 2026, the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee and the People’s Government of Hunan Province jointly issued the *Implementation Plan for the In-Depth Implementation of the Free Trade Zone Upgrade Strategy and the High-Standard Construction of China (Hunan) Pilot Free Trade Zone* (hereinafter “the Plan”). The Plan is the province’s flagship roadmap for translating the national free trade zone (FTZ) upgrade strategy into concrete, measurable actions within the Hunan Pilot FTZ.
At its core, the Plan organises Hunan’s next phase of reform around six major tasks, each aimed at deepening *institutional opening*—opening not merely at the border, but through rules, regimes, and services that make the zone more connective, efficient, and attractive to both domestic and foreign participants.
The Plan articulates a clear principal objective: by 2030, Hunan aims to build (1) an integrated innovation development zone across the full industrial chain, (2) an institutional opening promotion zone for China–Africa cooperation, (3) a regional coordinated opening hub zone, and (4) a modern opening-up talent cultivation zone for inland regions. Together, these four zones frame what “high-standard construction” means for an inland FTZ seeking to punch above its weight in global and continental trade.
The Six Tasks at a Glance
The Plan’s six tasks can be summarised as follows:
- Upgrade foreign trade — optimise and upgrade external trade through platforms and new trade forms.
- Open investment in both directions — broaden channels for foreign and outbound investment.
- Raise the modern industrial innovation level — strengthen core manufacturing and emerging-tech capacity.
- Deepen substantive China–Africa cooperation — build pilots, parks, logistics, and payment systems for the African market.
- Build a foreign-professional innovation and entrepreneurship service platform — serve incoming global talent.
- Further facilitate foreign exchange use for domestic and overseas talent — ease cross-border personal and business FX.
The following sections expand on the substantive measures attached to each cluster of tasks.
Trade Facilitation: Upgrading Foreign Trade
The Plan places strong emphasis on promoting the optimisation and upgrading of foreign trade. A central instrument is the construction of a cross-border trade public service platform that connects the various actors and procedures involved in external trade into a single, coherent service environment.
Crucially, the Plan seeks to open up the full “customs–tax–FX–clearing” chain (关—税—汇—清) for new trade forms such as cross-border e-commerce and market procurement trade. By linking customs, taxation, foreign exchange, and clearing into one uninterrupted pipeline, the platform is designed to reduce friction, compress processing time, and give smaller traders the same backbone infrastructure previously reserved for large exporters.
On the customs side, the Plan calls for an innovated tariff guarantee model, under which qualified guarantee institutions issue tariff guarantee letters of undertaking on behalf of importers. This shifts the burden of upfront duty payment toward a guarantee-based mechanism, improving cash-flow efficiency for traders.
To support importers’ working capital, the Plan also proposes the launch of “import advance payment” credit insurance, mitigating the risk that buyers bear when paying foreign suppliers ahead of shipment or delivery.
Two-Way Investment: Opening Both Channels
The Plan’s second task is to promote two-way opening of investment. Rather than treating inbound and outbound capital as separate tracks, the Plan treats them as a single, reciprocally reinforcing system.
On the inbound side, Hunan will broaden foreign investment channels and attract overseas capital and private equity to carry out diversified investment cooperation. This signals a welcome for more varied foreign capital structures—beyond wholly foreign-owned vehicles—including partnership and fund-based formats.
A headline reform is the implementation of innovation in the balance-management system for Qualified Foreign Limited Partners (QFLP). By managing QFLP quotas on a balance basis rather than through rigid, transaction-by-transaction approvals, the reform is intended to give foreign limited partners greater flexibility and speed when deploying capital into Hunan-based projects.
Industrial Innovation: Raising the Modern Industry Level
The third task focuses on enhancing the innovation capacity of modern industries. The Plan recognises that an FTZ upgrade is only as strong as the real economy it supports, and it therefore backs the innovation of key basic manufacturing equipment—explicitly naming industrial mother machines, control systems, and instruments and meters as priorities. Strengthening these foundational layers is intended to raise the self-reliance and quality of Hunan’s advanced manufacturing base.
In parallel, the Plan supports the construction of “AI+” characteristic application-scenario public training grounds. These shared environments are meant to let enterprises experiment with and scale artificial-intelligence applications under realistic conditions, lowering the cost of adoption and accelerating the diffusion of intelligent manufacturing and services across the zone.
China–Africa Cooperation: Deepening Substantive Ties
The fourth task—and one of Hunan’s distinctive comparative advantages—is to advance deep, substantive cooperation with Africa. Hunan positions itself as a national bridgehead for China–Africa economic and trade links, and the Plan reinforces this role on several fronts.
First, it supports the construction of a China–Africa economic and trade in-depth cooperation pilot zone, providing an institutional sandbox for rules and models tailored to African trade and investment flows.
Second, the Plan supports African characteristic industrial parks built around products such as coffee, cocoa, and nuts, helping to channel African agricultural and processed goods into China through dedicated, well-serviced channels.
Third, it calls for the formation of cross-border logistics enterprises oriented toward Africa, improving the physical connectivity and reliability of freight between Hunan and African markets.
Fourth, the Plan seeks to introduce and cultivate cross-border payment platforms for Africa and to build a safe and efficient cross-border payment and settlement system for Africa. Reliable settlement infrastructure is a recognised bottleneck in China–Africa commerce, and addressing it directly is central to the zone’s “institutional opening promotion zone for China–Africa cooperation” goal.
Talent and Foreign Exchange: Serving People
The fifth and sixth tasks centre on people. The Plan proposes to build an innovation and entrepreneurship service platform for foreign professionals, lowering the practical barriers that overseas talent face when starting businesses, hiring, and operating within the zone.
Complementing the platform, the Plan commits to further facilitating the use of foreign exchange by domestic and overseas talent. Simpler, more predictable FX procedures for individuals and enterprises reduce a persistent source of friction for internationally mobile founders, specialists, and cross-border teams.
Related Reading
Readers seeking the authoritative basis for the measures above may consult the following official sources: the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), which acts as the competent authority for pilot free trade zones; the People’s Government of Hunan Province, which issued the implementation plan; and the State Council, which provides the top-level deployment of the national FTZ upgrade strategy. Direct links appear in the Sources section below.
湖南自贸试验区提升战略实施方案：六大任务深化制度型开放
概述
2026 年 8 月，中共湖南省委、湖南省人民政府联合印发《深入实施自由贸易试验区提升战略高标准建设中国（湖南）自由贸易试验区实施方案》（以下简称《方案》）。《方案》是湖南落实国家自由贸易试验区提升战略、在自贸试验区框架下转化为可衡量行动的总体路线图。
《方案》以六大任务为核心，组织湖南下一阶段的改革开放，每一项任务都指向深化制度型开放——不仅是边境上的开放，更是通过规则、制度和服务的完善，使片区更具联通性、效率与对内对外吸引力。
《方案》明确了清晰的主要目标：到 2030 年，湖南要打造（1）全产业链集成创新发展区、（2）中非制度型开放促进区、（3）区域协同开放枢纽区、（4）内陆地区现代开放人才培育区。这四类区域共同定义了内陆型自贸试验区”高标准建设”的内涵。
六大任务一览
《方案》的六大任务可概括如下：
- 推动对外贸易优化升级——以平台与新业态优化提升外贸。
- 促进投资双向开放——拓宽引进来与走出去的投资渠道。
- 提升现代产业创新发展能级——强化核心制造与新兴技术能力。
- 推进对非深层次合作——建设先行区、产业园、物流与支付体系对接非洲市场。
- 搭建外籍人士创新创业服务平台——服务引进来的全球人才。
- 进一步便利境内外人才用汇——简化跨境个人与企业的外汇使用。
下文对各项任务所附的具体举措展开说明。
贸易便利化：优化升级对外贸易
《方案》高度重视推动对外贸易优化升级。核心抓手之一是建设跨境贸易公共服务平台，将外贸涉及的各类主体与环节整合为统一、连贯的服务环境。
关键之处在于，《方案》着力打通跨境电商、市场采购贸易等新业态”关—税—汇—清”全链条。把海关、税务、外汇与清结算连成不间断的管道，旨在降低摩擦、压缩办理时间，并让中小贸易者也能享有过去仅面向大型出口商的基础支撑。
在海关环节，《方案》提出创新关税担保模式，由符合条件的担保机构开具关税担保保函，代进口商提供税款担保。这把提前缴税的负担转向基于担保的机制，改善贸易商的资金周转效率。
为支持进口商营运资金，《方案》还提出开展“进口预付款”信用保险，对冲买方在发货或交货前向外方付款所承担的风险。
投资双向开放：引进来与走出去并举
第二项任务是促进投资双向开放。湖南不把引进来与走出去视为两条孤立轨道，而是作为相互强化的统一体系。
在引进来方面，湖南将拓宽外商投资渠道，吸引海外资本、私募股权开展多元化投资合作。这释放出欢迎更多元外资结构的信号——除独资外，也包括合伙、基金等形态。
一项标志性改革是实施合格境外有限合伙人（QFLP）余额管理制度创新。以余额方式管理 QFLP 额度，替代逐笔 rigid 审批，旨在让境外有限合伙人在向湖南项目投放资金时获得更高灵活度与速度。
产业创新：提升现代产业能级
第三项任务聚焦提升现代产业创新发展能级。《方案》认识到，自贸试验区提升归根结底要靠其支撑的实体经济，因此支持关键基础制造装备创新，明确将工业母机、控制系统、仪器仪表列为重点。夯实这些基础层，意在提升湖南先进制造的自立能力与质量。
与此同时，《方案》支持建设“人工智能+”特色应用场景公共训练场。这类共享环境让企业在贴近真实的条件下试验并放大人工智能应用，降低采纳成本，加速智能制造与智能服务在片区的扩散。
对非合作：走向深层次
第四项任务——也是湖南鲜明的比较优势之一——是推进对非深层次合作。湖南把自己定位为中非经贸往来的国家级桥头堡，《方案》从多个层面强化这一角色。
首先，支持建设中非经贸深度合作先行区，为契合非洲贸易与投资流的规则与模式提供制度”沙盒”。
其次，《方案》支持围绕咖啡、可可、坚果等产品建设非洲特色产业园，以专属、配套完善的渠道，把非洲农产及加工品引入中国。
第三，提出组建对非跨境物流企业，提升湖南与非洲市场之间货运的物理连通性与可靠性。
第四，《方案》着力引进培育对非跨境支付平台，并建设安全高效的对非跨境支付结算体系。可靠的结算基础设施是中非商贸公认的瓶颈，直接破解这一瓶颈，正契合”中非制度型开放促进区”目标。
人才与外汇：以人为中心
第五、第六项任务以人为中心。《方案》提出搭建外籍人士创新创业服务平台，降低海外人才在片区内创业、用工与运营所面临的实际门槛。
与之配套，《方案》承诺进一步便利境内外人才用汇。更简单、可预期的个人与企业外汇流程，能减少国际化创始人、专才与跨境团队长期面临的摩擦。
延伸阅读
欲了解上述举措的权威依据，可查阅以下官方来源：作为自由贸易试验区主管部门的商务部、印发本实施方案的湖南省人民政府，以及作出自贸试验区提升战略顶层部署的国务院。具体链接见下方”来源”部分。
Sources
- 商务部（自由贸易试验区主管部门）：https://www.mofcom.gov.cn/
- 湖南省人民政府（实施方案印发单位）：https://www.hunan.gov.cn/
- 国务院（自由贸易试验区提升战略顶层部署）：https://www.gov.cn/