A free trade port area will be set up in Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone with higher standards of supervision and innovative systems for investment, finance, foreign exchange transactions, exit-entry administration, and taxation, officials said recently.

Last year the FTZ achieved total business revenue and sales revenue of more than 1 trillion yuan (US$147 billion) each, said Wang Xinling, deputy director-general of Shanghai Free Trade Zone Administration.

Meanwhile, the zone accounted for 27.3 percent of the city’s total foreign trade and 33 percent of the city’s total imports, Wang added.

A number of cross-border e-commerce hubs have been established in the zone. The one at Pudong International Airport handles about 30,000 orders a day, representing more than half of all cross-border online purchases in the city.

The Yangshan Port Free Trade Area has completed the integration of its online and offline systems and handles 150,000 parcels a day during peak seasons through the JD.com retail website.

The country’s first license for parallel import of automobiles was issued to a company in the free trade zone, the official said.

Since it was founded three years ago, Shanghai Free Trade Zone has registered 30,000 companies in addition to about 8,000 existing ones. More than 80 percent of the key enterprises are making profits.

Source:china-shftz.gov.cn