At present, state economic and technological development zones have expanded to a new stage. The Ministry of Commerce is planning to include IP protection, bio-environment protection, social security and others in the general statistic system of state development zones and the general system of evaluation indicators for investment conditions.

The other day Director of the Foreign Investment Management Department of the MOC expressed that state economic and technological development zones are important carrier and platform for China to open to the outside world, the MOC planed to hold this year a work conference of state economic and technological zones to study and formulate the strategy and the train of thoughts that can enable them to add new advantage of renovation, build harmonious development zones and realize sustainable development, particularly, such contents as IP protection, technological renovation, energy conservation and reduction, friendly environment and social security shall be included in the general statistic system and the general system of evaluation indicators for state development zones. This aims to facilitate the construction of energy-conservative and environment-friendly industrial parks.

At present, however, these development zones are encountered with a number of problems such as incomplete legislation, weakening tax benefit policy, scarcity of land resources and increase of labor cost.

Li Zhiquan pointed out, one of the specific jobs for 2007 is to actively face the new opportunity and challenge brought about by the adjustment of relevant policies, especially the publication of the "two taxes in one" policy; to continuously give greater financial support to the infrastructure of state economic and technological development zones in the central and western areas; to encourage and channel those zones to play an exemplary and driving role in such areas as development of hi-tech industries, energy-conservative and environment-friendly and modern service trades.