China to build more FTZs similar to Shanghai FTZ

BEIJING: China is looking to build more Free Trade Zone projects on the lines of the one launched in Shanghai last year, President Xi Jinping said today.

Xi said the experience gained at Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone ( Shanghai FTZ) can be copied to more places "as soon as possible".

Billed as a 'test bed' for the new Chinese leadership's drive of deepening market-oriented reforms and boosting economic vigour to halt the slowing economy, the FTZ in China's biggest city and trade centre was expected to pose stiff competition to Hong Kong as a centre for international trade and financial centre with free exchange of currencies.

As per the blueprint of reform, FTZ which functions from an area of 29 sq kms in Shanghai, will have specific tasks which include easing restrictions on yuan, investment and trade to spearhead a new strategy to spur growth.

The experience gained at Shanghai FTZ can be compared to "seeds cultivated from an experimental plot," Xi said at the sixth meeting of the Leading Group for Overall Reform.

"We should plant these seeds in more land so that flowers will blossom and fruits be harvested as quickly as possible," Xi said.

According to the reform blueprint adopted last November, China plans to build several FTZs in suitable places other than Shanghai.

The country will copy the replicable practice from Shanghai FTZ to other places as soon as possible, and some of them will be promoted nationwide, he said.

Xi acknowledged the progress made in the Shanghai FTZ, praising the efforts in transforming government functions, facilitating investment and trade and improving business environment.

Some 12,000 firms have been established in the Shanghai FTZ since its launch in September last year and foreign trade reached 747.5 billion yuan (121.7 billion US dollars) in its first year of operation.

The FTZ in the Chinese financial hub has promised free trade, greater financial opening and fewer government controls in business activities.