Beijing has carved out a novel path for coordinated development among free trade zones. On August 31, at a press conference for the construction work plan of the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone's Linked Development Zones, it was announced that the "Construction Work Plan for the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone's Linked Development Zones" (hereinafter referred to as the "Work Plan") has been officially implemented, and the Beijing Pilot Free Trade Zone's Linked Development Zones have been established. Beijing is the first in the nation to pioneer a hybrid "industry-region" linkage system for free trade zone coordinated development zones. This initiative targets four major industries: medicine and health, artificial intelligence, integrated circuits, and commercial aerospace. It designates 11 regions—namely Haidian, Changping, Chaoyang, Shunyi, Tongzhou, Daxing, and Yizhuang, which are host districts of the free trade zone clusters, plus Fengtai, Shijingshan, Mentougou, and Huairou—as linked development zones, covering a total area of 119.2 square kilometers.

Reform as the Foundation, Linkage to Break New Ground

The establishment of the linked development zones is rooted in six years of reform accumulation and practical needs of the Beijing Pilot Free Trade Zone. Zhuang Jianrong, Party Member and Deputy Director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, stated that this initiative not only fulfills the national strategy to elevate free trade zones but also serves the need for innovation-driven development across the entire industrial chain, and represents an important step in exploring high-level, independent opening-up. The linked development zones will create a "policy spillover" channel, allowing more market entities to benefit from the innovative dividends of the free trade zone. Since its inception in 2020, the Beijing Pilot Free Trade Zone has consistently anchored itself to the national strategic positioning, forging a Beijing pathway that promotes high-quality development through high-level opening-up. Pilot tasks have been implemented at a high standard, with the overall plan's pilot tasks fully completed and a series of measures aligned with international high-standard economic and trade rules fully rolled out. Reforms in key areas have been continuously deepened, with 11 special reform plans introduced across trade, investment, capital flows, talent services, and the digital economy, cumulatively launching nearly 500 reform measures. Twenty-two experience cases have been replicated and promoted nationwide, fully leveraging the free trade zone's role as a "testing ground" for reform and opening-up and an "incubator" for institutional innovation.

While institutional innovation continues to break through, distinctive industries within the Beijing Pilot Free Trade Zone are growing rapidly. Zhuang Jianrong highlighted that in the medicine and health sector, the Science and Technology Innovation Area is accelerating the layout of future industries such as synthetic biology manufacturing and brain-computer interfaces; the International Business Service Area is projected to exceed 100 billion yuan in pharmaceutical trade volume in 2025; and the High-end Industry Area has gathered over 2,000 medicine and health enterprises. In artificial intelligence, the Science and Technology Innovation Area is expected to see core industry revenue surpass 200 billion yuan in 2025, a growth of more than 2.5 times compared to the free trade zone's initial establishment. The High-end Industry Area has built the country's first AI data training base and the first national policy pilot zone for intelligent connected vehicles. For integrated circuits, the Science and Technology Innovation Area hosts over a hundred enterprises centered on IC design, while the High-end Industry Area has gathered a cluster of IC manufacturing firms. In commercial aerospace, a "South Rocket, North Satellite" development pattern has emerged, with private rocket enterprises in the southern High-end Industry Area leading the nation in concentration.

Despite these achievements, there remains room for improvement. Zhuang Jianrong acknowledged that the layout of distinctive industries within the Beijing Pilot Free Trade Zone needs further optimization, and the extension of industrial chains and the level of industrial synergy require strengthening. Enterprises within the free trade zone need to collaborate with enterprises outside the zone in research and development innovation, public platform sharing, and other areas. Meanwhile, enterprises outside the zone have strong demands for policies related to cross-border data flow and expedited customs clearance for special items in biomedicine. It is against this practical backdrop and corporate demand that the Beijing Pilot Free Trade Zone's Linked Development Zones came into being, focusing on the four major industries of medicine and health, artificial intelligence, integrated circuits, and commercial aerospace, shifting from "point-like clustering" to "chain-like synergy."

Chain-Like Synergy, Cross-Regional Integration

The "Work Plan" outlines clear cross-regional synergy chains for the four major industries. The medicine and health industry is structured around a linkage system of "Changping R&D and pilot testing—Yizhuang, Daxing, Mentougou manufacturing—Tongzhou medical-industry collaboration—Huairou empowerment and innovative verification—Shunyi trade and distribution." Zhang Shuo, Party Member and Deputy District Mayor of Changping District, introduced that the Changping cluster of the Beijing Pilot Free Trade Zone's Science and Technology Innovation Area houses top-tier R&D institutions like Changping Laboratory and the Beijing Institute of Life Sciences, establishing a "1-kilometer efficient transformation circle" from "laboratory—common platform—small-scale pilot—clinical application," with an average transformation cycle of just 4.7 years. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the district achieved an average annual growth rate of 10.8% in industrial revenue, with the total output of the medicine and health industry surpassing 110 billion yuan. Cao Ziyang, Member of the Standing Committee and Deputy District Mayor of Mentougou District, stated that relying on the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Mentougou is building the "China Heart Valley," establishing a full-chain layout for medical-engineering cross-disciplinary industrialization. Next, it will collaborate with Yizhuang to undertake pilot amplification and large-scale production of innovative drugs and devices.

The artificial intelligence industry follows a linkage system of "Haidian source innovation—Shijingshan humanoid robot training—Shunyi intelligent driving R&D—Yizhuang, Chaoyang, Fengtai, Mentougou applications—Mentougou computing power." Sui Xiaofeng, Member of the Standing Committee and Deputy District Mayor of Haidian District, noted that in 2025, Haidian's core AI output value is expected to exceed 350 billion yuan, with over 2,000 AI enterprises gathered, accounting for approximately 80% of the city's total, making it one of the most active regions for AI innovation in the country. The Haidian linked development zone covers six distinctive parks, and a detailed implementation plan has been formulated, outlining 12 key tasks. Li Wenfeng, Deputy Director of the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area Management Committee, stated that Yizhuang, as another base for the AI industry, will leverage the industrial foundation of the High-end Industry Area to form coordinated linkages with Haidian.

The integrated circuits industry is built on a linkage system of "Haidian design—Yizhuang, Shunyi manufacturing—Chaoyang optoelectronics—Huairou original innovation and testing." Lan Xiongjing, Member of the Standing Committee and Deputy District Mayor of Huairou District, introduced that Huairou Science City has laid out 37 science and technology facility platforms, breaking through more than 60 key core technologies in the integrated circuits field, assembling over 50 key enterprises, and bringing together more than 100 expert teams led by 8 academicians. This forms an original innovation force covering the entire chain of materials, devices, chips, testing, and equipment. The science city has completed 300,000 square meters of high-standard factory space and will accelerate the construction of an additional 500,000 square meters of specialized factory space next.

The commercial aerospace industry is structured around a linkage system of "Haidian constellation R&D—Fengtai satellite application services—Yizhuang rocket R&D—Shijingshan deep space exploration." Li Wenfeng explained that the Economic-Technological Development Area's concentration of commercial rocket enterprises accounts for 75% of the national total, with 24 launches planned for 2025, representing over 80% of the country's commercial launch volume. Beijing Rocket Street has laid out six common service platforms, and during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, it aims to build an industrial innovation cluster characterized by "a thousand enterprises linked, a thousand satellites in orbit, and a hundred billion yuan in revenue."

Policy Interconnection, Platform Sharing

Zhuang Jianrong stated that the "Work Plan" constructs a guarantee system across three dimensions: institutional linkage, policy interconnection, and platform sharing. In terms of institutional linkage, support is provided for the linked development zones to simultaneously conduct exploratory experiments and stress tests alongside the free trade zone, replicating and promoting the innovative achievements and experience cases of the free trade zone. For policy interconnection, municipal-level management authority will be delegated to the linked development zones on a demand-driven basis. Regarding platform sharing, the plan calls for the co-construction and sharing of cross-regional technology innovation platforms, functional platforms, comprehensive service platforms, as well as facilities such as laboratories and major scientific installations.

In terms of regional functional positioning, Haidian is set to build a globally leading AI industry innovation hub; Changping aims to be a global engine for life sciences innovation; Chaoyang will expand industrial application scenarios for AI and integrated circuits; Shunyi will deepen the coordinated development of national-level third-generation semiconductor distinctive industry clusters; Tongzhou will create a regional hub for medical-industry collaboration; Daxing is building an internationally influential "China Medicine Valley"; Yizhuang will become a source of innovation for medicine and health and a hub for the commercial aerospace industry; Fengtai will integrate into the "South Rocket, North Satellite" development pattern; Shijingshan will build a data hub for embodied intelligence and a source for base model innovation, as well as a primary destination for deep space exploration achievements transformation; Mentougou will construct a full-chain ecosystem of "computing power + algorithms + data"; and Huairou will leverage major scientific installations and common technology platforms to empower innovation and development in the medicine and health and integrated circuits industries. Zhuang Jianrong added that the next step will involve incorporating the construction of the linked development zones into the important agenda of the municipal "Two Zones"工作领导小组, deepening the implementation of the "Work Plan," continuously leveraging the Beijing Pilot Free Trade Zone's demonstrative and radiating role, promoting coordinated and integrated development between the free trade zone and the linked development zones, deepening integrated innovation across the entire industrial chain, and providing solid support for the high-quality development of the capital's open economy.