Shanghai's pilot free trade zone to become free port

Shanghai plans to turn its pilot free trade zone into a free port according to the policy of the central government, a senior Shanghai Party official said Thursday, according to domestic news site shobserver.com.

Shanghai Party chief Han Zheng said the free port is still at the planning stage and its final version should first be approved by the central government before being implemented.

The construction of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone has been undertaken in three steps, Han told the media after the Shanghai party delegation completed their discussion at the Great Hall of People in Beijing on Thursday.

They include Version 1.0 when it was founded in September 2013; Version 2.0 when the central government approved the deepened planning in 2015 and Version 3.0 this May, when all-out reform and opening-up was required in the free trade zone.

System innovation is the core task of the zone, Han said, noting that more than 100 innovative systems have been applied across the nation through these years of reform, according to the report.

Shanghai has moved to deepen reforms by reinventing its pilot free trade zone into a world-class free port, the Shanghai Securities News reported in February.

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