A springboard for growth
Figures and facts
NUMBERS:
・ Of all the 302 institutional innovative measures experimented in the 21 FTZs in China and promoted across the rest of the country, 145 were first rolled out in the Shanghai FTZ
・ As of the end of 2022, the Shanghai FTZ had attracted $58.6 billion in foreign investment over the past decade. This figure accounted for about 30 percent of the city's total during the same period
・ More than 14,000 foreign-invested projects have been registered in the Shanghai FTZ over the last 10 years
・ The Shanghai FTZ accounted for 30 percent of the combined import and export values of China's 21 FTZs in 2022
・ The Free Trade Account system has handled 142 trillion yuan ($19.54 trillion) in cross-border payments and settlements denominated in renminbi and foreign currencies as of 2022
・ Approval time for business licenses shortened by nearly 90 percent
・ More than 500 frontier industry projects with a combined investment of more than 560 billion yuan have been set up in the Lingang Special Area
MANY FIRSTS
・ China's first negative list for foreign investment: 2013
・ China's first wholly foreign-owned hospital: the Shanghai Towako Hospital in 2016
・ China's first wholly foreign-owned carmaker: Tesla in Lingang in 2018
・ China's first wholly foreign-owned securities firm: JP Morgan in August 2021
・ China's first international relay shipment made by a foreign company: 2022
・ China's first yuan-denominated trade for imported LNG: March 2023
・ China's first remanufacturing business: September 2023
SOURCES: CHINA (SHANGHAI) PILOT FREE TRADE ZONE ADMINISTRATION, SHANGHAI GOVERNMENT NEWS OFFICE
