TIANJIN, May 29 (Xinhua) -- The number of newly registered market entities in north China's Tianjin Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) has reached 45,000 since the FTZ was launched on April 21, 2015 , local officials said Tuesday.

The number has doubled since 2015, said Yang Maorong, head of Binhai New Area, at a conference marking the FTZ's three year anniversary.

The registered capital of the FTZ reached a total of 1.6 trillion yuan (250 billion U.S. dollars), Yang said.

The FTZ creates 12 percent of local GDP, and around one third of the city's import and export volume.

"Since 2015, 2119 foreign-invested companies have been set up in the zone, with a registered capital of 399 billion yuan," said Zhang Zhongdong, deputy head of the Binhai New Area.

China's FTZs, which expanded from the first in Shanghai to 12 across the country, are a way of testing new policies, including interest rate liberalization and fewer investment restrictions, to better integrate the economy with international practices.