A remote view of the Huashan Port. [Photo/Optics Valley of China]

Located in the center of the East Lake High-tech Development Zone (also known as Optics Valley of China, or OVC), the Wuhan East Lake Free Trade Zone (FTZ) has been in operation for the past decade.

Connecting with free trade zones and foreign trade promotion institutions in more than 20 countries and regions, the FTZ has also attracted a series of high-quality enterprises to settle into the OVC, such as Lenovo and Foxconn, which have contributed to the high-quality development of the zone's open economy.

Products made in the OVC have been exported to more than 160 countries and regions via the FTZ, including about 50 countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, which brings the valley closer to the world.

Last November, a 10-billion-yuan ($1.45 billion) high-end optical device manufacturing base broke ground in the FTZ, and was funded by Accelink Technologies Co, a world-leading manufacturer of optoelectronic devices and modules.

Over the past 10 years, the FTZ has given full play to its advantages as a national independent innovation demonstration zone, a free trade pilot zone and a special customs supervision zone. In April 2022, Sinopharm Group Wuhan Co was established in the FTZ, and in October, its bonded medicine import business officially opened.

Chen Bo, an economics professor with the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, believes that the valley not only needs to focus on institutional and industrial innovation, but should also set up its own multimodal transport network, including the sea, road, air, and railway transportation. By doing this, the port can better facilitate its foreign trade functions.