New dividend, new mechanism

The reform on dividend trialed by Shanghai FTZ has been paying back. As the news of the FTZ expansion spread out, more than 10,000 companies set up in Pudong — the growth in one year has surpassed the sum of the past 20 years. Foreign investment has also been raising rapidly. From January to March, 833 nes foreign-funded enterprises set up in the zone, 100 more than before.

The next step of Shanghai FTZ will be the completion of 25 goals and measures in government function transformation, investment management innovation, trade regulatory system innovation, financial system innovation, and legal system and supporting policies.

New strategy, new mission

Since June of this year, the first "international trade single window" will run a pilot in Shanghai FTZ. "Single window" combines services like customs, inspection and quarantine, maritime affairs, immigration border, and port administrative affairs, it is an important measurement to make international trade more convenient. "Under this reform, not only Shanghai, but the whole Yangtze River economic belt will benefit," said Sun Yuanxin, a professor of of FTZ research institution at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. "50 percent of export value from Shanghai port is from the Yangtze River economic belt."

With the implementation of deeper reform, Shanghai FTZ will be a vital carrier for the economic globalization of the Chinese economy, and it will help promote the development of "One Belt and One Road" and the Yangtze River Economic Zone. 

This article is edited and translated from 《上海自贸区启动2.0版本》，source: People's Daily Online, author: Sun Xiaojing