A signboard of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone in the Waigaoqiao area in Pudong, Shanghai, December 23, 2014. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/ Min Rui]

The latest batch of Free Trade Zones in China was officially launched this morning.

The three zones are all situated along coastal areas, located in Tianjin, Fujian and Guangdong.

Together with the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone, the four zones have now all been assigned different areas of specialization.

The one in Guangdong will focus on promoting economic cooperation with Hong Kong and Macao, while at the same time spearheading efforts to upgrade China's manufacturing industry.

The Governor of Guangdong Province Zhu Xiaodan says that since their FTZ was approved by the state council, some 6,500 enterprises have been registered in the area.

"The Guangdong FTZ is situated along Hong Kong and Macao, with a premier location and distinctive industry. It has great potential for innovation with opening up opportunities. We sincerely invite investors from all economies, especially those from Hong Kong and Macao to expand business here."

The one in Tianjin will emphasize the joint development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei.

The one in Fujian aims to deepen cross-Straits economic cooperation and will support the belt and road initiative.

Meanwhile, the State Council has also released new versions of its negative list for all of the FTZs.

Under the new list, 17 restrictions for foreign investment were cut from the previous list used in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone.

The Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone will still play a leading role in aspiring to the "highest level of opening-up" with more opportunities to develop higher added value trade in both merchandise and services.

And it will also expand in size so to provide more space for experimentation with financial sector and trade policy reforms.