Municipality's plan will boost economic relations with Beijing

Tianjin should use its advantage in logistics and manufacturing to boost its emerging financial industry, according to Sheng.

Companies in Hebei province are also looking at the business opportunities in the new FTZ.

Yingli Solar Group CoLtd, a solar panel producer, recently set up a logistics subsidiary in the free trade zone.

With a total investment of about 1 billion yuan, the company plans to focus on added-value ventures in cross-border e-commerce, storage and logistics as well as duty-free processing.

"The relaxation of customs regulation on e-commerce has created many business opportunities for logistics and storage companies," Li Guang, deputy manager of Tianjin Tianyi Sunton International Logistics Co Ltd, said.

Last year, firms from Hebei province invested 26.3 billion yuan in 769 projects in Tianjin, according to the Tianjin Commission of Commerce.

But attracting talented business people to the FTZ will be crucial to increase economic growth. Sheng said the government should design policies that will attract talent from home and abroad to Tianjin.

One of the priorities should be to entice "blue-collar technicians" who have the expertise and knowledge that the FTZ will need in the years ahead.

Local residents will also benefit from free trade zone status as prices of imported goods will fall.

"Imported agricultural products used to be shipped from the south to Beijing," said Zhang Aiguo, director of the Dongjiang Free Trade Port Administrative Commission in Tianjin. "But now they can be shipped from Tianjin, which greatly reduces the time and the transportation cost. The products are fresher than before."