Shanghai Free Trade Zone draws pioneer spirit

Since its launch in 2013, the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, the first of its kind in China, has become a home for opening-up, and companies are keen to test their latest innovations across the likes of banking, technology, e-commerce and medicine.

When it was officially launched on Sep 29, 2013, just 36 companies unveiled their FTZ branches at the inaugural ceremony. Today, more than 50,000 companies have registered in the area.

Citibank was one of the first, setting up a branch in the Shanghai FTZ in September 2013. Over the past five years, its FTZ branch has become a pioneer in terms of financial reform and innovative policies. In January 2014, the branch set up the first automatic cross-border renminbi two-way capital pool. It also introduced an intercompany crossborder netting transaction using renminbi in 2015 - the first of its kind in the world.