MOSCOW, September 28 (RIA Novosti) - Beijing introduced Sunday a plan to lift the foreign investment restrictions for as much as 27 industries in the vicinity of the city of Shanghai.
The so-called Shanghai Free Trade zone was established roughly a year ago. The goals of this change will be broader access to China’s services and financial sectors, as well as a significantly decreased level of bureaucratic acrimony.
From today on, the Shanghai free trade zone will offer investment opportunities in several manufacturing and agricultural spheres, such as automotive and aircraft engineering, infrastructure and green tea. Of course, the concessions are strictly limited. Still, some industries are now allowed a share of foreign investment of 51 percent or even greater. Some cutting-edge innovative industries, like high-speed rail, may now be fully owned by foreign capital in Shanghai, something which is still not allowed in the rest of China.
The state monopoly on traditional green tea production also no longer exists in the Shang-Hai free trade zone as foreign enterprises are now allowed to form joint companies with local partners in order to grow and distribute this crop.
The Chinese government has stated that Shang-Hai free trade zone will be a testbed for innovative approaches for the nation’s industrial production. The most successful practices are later to be applied in the rest of mainland China, Beijing says. During the one year of Shanghai free trade zone running full-steam about 12.000 firms were established, including 1.677 firms with foreign participation.
