In April 2009, the State Council officially released the Opinions on Pushing Shanghai to Accelerate the Development of Modern Service Industry and Advanced Manufacturing Industry to Build the International Financial Center and Shipping Center, which proposed to basically build Shanghai into an international shipping center capable of global shipping resource allocation by 2020. The Opinions also put forth to set up a comprehensive pilot zone for international shipping development and carry out pilot projects for that purpose with reference to the shipping-supporting policies implemented in developed countries (regions). This report compares the policies and environment faced by Shanghai and international shipping centers overseas, and proposes corresponding ideas and suggestions regarding the connotations, contents, spatial layout, auxiliary policies and measures of the “comprehensive pilot zone for international shipping development”.