Shanghai free trade zone slated to become free port

Containers are seen at Yangshan Deep Water Port, part of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, in Shanghai, Feb 13, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

Shanghai has moved to deepen reforms by reinventing its pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) into a world-class free port, Shanghai Securities News reported on Tuesday.

Such an ambition would be accompanied by plans to further relax import cargo controls and streamline customs clearance in accordance with international practice.

"Free trade port means beyond the current model of bonded areas. It will take three to four years to re-design a comprehensive set of rules and revise related regulations," Zhu Min, deputy director of Shanghai municipal Development and Reform Commission, told the newspaper.

The free trade port will be located within the Yangshan and Pudong airport zones, which together with Waigaoqiao logistics park, Lujiazui financial area and Jinqiao technological zone, constitute the country's first pilot FTZ, a testing ground for numerous economic reforms.

The port aims to offer quality coastal services and transparent supervision that are side-by-side with the world's most advanced free trade ports, according to the newspaper.

In a proposal to the session of the CPPCC municipal committee, Fang Huaijin, vice president of the Shanghai International Port Group, said he hopes there would be tariff cuts in the FTZ.

However, Sun Yuanxin, deputy director of the Research Institute for the Shanghai FTZ at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, said the chance of a significant tariff cut is slim given the potential scale, while the free trade port will more likely try to improve trade services and provide policy support to the high-tech sector.