Waigaoqiao, one of the free trade zones in Pudong, has established a trading platform for imported products, two cross-border investment service websites, and an incubator for pharmaceutical startups.

It also has a business platform for parallel imports of cars, a trading platform for cultural products, and an industrial park for machinery manufacturers who are offered testing, training, financial and leasing services. The park has a bonded showroom for imported machine tools.

The park’s first phase has attracted more than 100 companies, including 41 of the world’s top 100 machinery manufacturers. They generate more than 20 billion yuan (US$2.99 billion) a year in output value and cover 21 percent of the domestic market.

The second phase of the park, totaling 65,000 square meters, will be built and put to use next year, officials said.

Shanghai Waigaoqiao Automobile Exchange Market Co Ltd is the first in China to obtain a license for parallel import of cars and received a CCC certification from the China Quality Certification Center in June. The company has sold ten vehicles through parallel import and will import 20 more.

Parallel import refers to alternative imports besides imports by foreign car makers in order to break their price monopoly.

Waigaoqiao Automobile Exchange Market Co Ltd will add a 5,000-square-meter product display pavilion in October, doubling the size of its current showroom.

Source: Shanghai FTZ Government.cn