Shanghai eyes FTZ trial possibilities

Shanghai will tap the opportunities arising from the trial for a free trade zone to facilitate trading, e-commerce and financial services as it develops its service industries, government officials said yesterday.

Vice Mayor Zhou Bo said the government is set to cancel more than 10 rules and regulations in a bid to liberalize the market.

He made the comment after Premier Li Keqiang last week said China plans to suspend some laws on foreign investment in proposed new free trade zones, including Shanghai, to provide .innovative. ways of opening up the economy, remove red tape and help transform the state.s role in the economy.

But no details for the zone have been released yet.

The free trade zone will allow Shanghai to focus on the metal, energy and chemical industries as well as create a commodity trading platform that connects major domestic and foreign exchanges.

The platform may handle deals worth hundreds of billion US dollars and will give Shanghai more say in commodity pricing, officials said.

The government will also develop commercial trading zones for steel, automobiles, chemicals and jewelry, and boost the trading of financial and logistics services.

The value of e-commerce jumped 26.1 percent from a year earlier to 454.8 billion yuan in the city in the first six months, the Shanghai Commission of Commerce said yesterday. A commission official added that facilitating e-commerce will continue to be a priority as the city encourages consumption and upgrade the service industries.

A total 17.5 billion yuan has been invested in 105 service projects in Shanghai since the end of 2011 as the city restructures its economy, according to the commerce commission.