Published : 2025-09-29

On 29th September 2013, the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, or the Shanghai FTZ, was officially established.

Located within Pudong, it is the first pilot free trade zone established by China, covering an area of 28.78 square kilometres.

It encompasses a total of four special customs supervision areas: the Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone, the Waigaoqiao Free Trade Logistics Park, the Yangshan Free Trade Port Area, and the Shanghai Pudong Airport Comprehensive Free Trade Zone.

From the day of its establishment, the Shanghai Free Trade Zone has undertaken the mission of exploring new paths and accumulating new experience for China in deepening reforms and expanding openness. It reduces trade barriers, increases openness, and in turn compels an acceleration of the pace of domestic reforms.

In accordance with the requirements of the "General Plan for the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone", the pilot free trade zones shoulder the important mission of actively promoting institutional and mechanism innovation in the new era, accelerating the transformation of the economic development model, and comprehensively raising the level of the open economy.

The main contents of the plan involve accelerating the transformation of government functions, expanding the opening up of investment sectors, accelerating the transformation of trade development models, deepening open innovation in the financial sector, and establishing a regulatory system and environment compatible with the pilot zone, among other things.

The plan also stipulated that among other relevant local regulations of Shanghai Municipality, any that are inconsistent with the plan would be adjusted for implementation.