Development Ideas of Free Trade Zones Under the Background of The Digital Transformation of Cross-Border Trade
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54097/bq77ea45Keywords:
Cross-border trade, digital transformation, free trade zone, digital trade, institutional innovation, data sharingAbstract
Under the background of accelerating the transformation of global trade mode and the wide application of digital technology, cross-border trade is gradually shifting from the traditional offline document flow, manual audit and segmented services to data-driven, platform collaboration and full-process digital operation. As an important platform for China's institutional opening up, the free trade zone is not only an important carrier for the digital transformation of cross-border trade, but also an important test site for exploring the innovation of high-level opening rules and service models. The digital transformation of cross-border trade has provided new development opportunities for the free trade zone to improve customs clearance efficiency, optimise the business environment, and expand the digital trade industry. However, it has also brought practical problems such as uneven infrastructure construction, imperfect data sharing mechanism, and insufficient supply of digital trade rules. Based on this, this article starts from the impact of cross-border trade digital transformation on the development of free trade zones, analyses the main constraints faced in the current development of free trade zones, and puts forward development ideas such as improving digital infrastructure, promoting data interconnection, exploring digital trade rules and strengthening protection paths, so as to improve cross-border trade for the free trade zone. Easy service capability and institutional innovation level provide reference.
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