FTZ simplifies process to launch businesses

"A fool's errand," a woman named Song Min sighed with a forced smile, standing in the busy hall of the Government Affairs Center of the Free Trade Zone of Pudong New District, after finding all procedures of registering a liquor store in Shanghai can be done online.

Her sigh is the most common lament heard here after the FTZ was set up in late 2013, said Jiang Hongjun, director of the center.

Apart from blazing the trail of reform in finance and trade, the Shanghai FTZ is tasked by central authorities with exploring reforms that simplify market entry for domestic and foreign investors and strengthening supervision.