Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone Research Articles

Impact of opening-up on industrial upgrading in global value chain: a difference-in-differences estimation for Shanghai pilot free trade zone

PurposeUsing the Shanghai pilot free trade zone (SPFTZ) as the testing ground for further reform and opening up,the links between global value chain (GVC) and pilot free trade zone (PFTZ) programs are mutually reinforcing. GVC creates opportunities for companies to use PFTZ to reduce their costs and increase their competitiveness, while PFTZ can facilitate the movement of goods within GVC and promote the development of GVC by attracting foreign investment. Overall, in SPFTZ, the industrial structure is promoted due to trade and investment facilitation, innovation promotion, and comprehensive service platform inside SPFTZ.Design/methodology/approachThis study examined industrial upgrading in GVC (IUGVC) using five indicators under three quantitative dimensions: product, process, and skill upgrading. Difference-in-Differences (DID) model is employed for the impact assessment of SPFTZ. Parallel trend analysis and Granger causality analysis are performed to check the reliability of DID outcome. Finally, robustness test using exogenous control variables are carried out.FindingsA positive impact of SPFTZ is found on IUGVC, which is due to promoting effect of SPFTZ on foreign direct investment and technological innovation. Based on the study's findings, policy recommendations are given, such as providing business support to enterprises operating inside a PFTZ.Originality/valueFrom a GVC perspective, the impact of theSPFTZ establishment on IUGVC cannot be ignored, and is so far missing in the literature.

International practice analysis of the negative list: Chinese Example of shipping market access

The international shipping industry is unique and important. The negative list related to the opening up of the shipping industry is an important part of the reform and innovation of China’s pilot free trade zones. In recent years, as countries around the world continue to promote the process of opening up in the fields of trade and services, the negative list system has been used more in international investment and trade agreements. In the field of International Shipping, how to correctly grasp and apply the negative list system is an important topic. Starting with the general concept of the negative list system of shipping market access, this paper reviews and summarizes the developmental processes of the negative list of foreign capital market access in the shipping field since the establishment of Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone. It compares and analyzes the international contracting practice of the European Union and the United States as reflected in the negative list of shipping market access. It equally points out that the system connection between the negative list still existing in China’s shipping field and the international high standard negative list is not enough. It argues that the transparency of the negative list still needs to be further strengthened, as the rules behind the list and the awareness of its risk prevention are weak. In view of these hitches, this paper makes some suggestions that are tilted towards improving the negative list system of China’s shipping market access. It also continues the optimization of the negative list of shipping market access and the improvement of a conscious awareness aimed at avoiding the possible risks of the negative list. Finally, it makes a strong argument for a continuous improvement of China’s international shipping competitiveness.

The Future of China Commercial Registration System: From the Perspective of the Legal Reform in Free Trade Zone and Free Trade Port

This study focuses on analyzing the reform of commercial registration system in Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) and Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) of China, by adopting the evaluation indicator of Starting a business of the World Bank's Doing Business. By implementing the new policies of Negative List and relative supporting policies like the separation of two licenses and e-registration, the reforms as to the mode and guiding philosophy of regulations on commercial registration in the FTZ/FTP achieved a positive spillover effect. However, there remain several problems, such as the fragmentation of the normative documents related, the overlarge scope of substantive examination of commercial registration, the Chinese government needs to further perfect the commercial registration system by means of delimiting the scope of application of market access upon commitment, further optimizing the Doing Business, enhancing the regulations of financial information of enterprises, harmonizing the legal system of regulatory authorities and strengthening the legislation on applicant's accountability and disciplinary mechanisms.

The Impact of the Pilot Free Trade Zone on Regional Financial Development

AbstractThis paper focuses on the Shanghai pilot free trade zone (FTZ). It investigates the effect of the FTZ policy on regional financial development. The synthetic control method employs quarterly data from 2005 to 2019 at the provincial level to investigate counterfactual states before and after the pilot FTZ was set up. First, our results reveal that the Shanghai pilot FTZ had a positive influence on the following four variables proxied for regional financial development: (i) the scale of regional financial development; (ii) the efficiency of indirect financial development; (iii) the efficiency of direct financial development; (iv) the structure of financial development. Second, our results found that the policy effects that began to emerge from 2014 onwards exhibited a steadily increasing trend. As a result, the four proxy variables have increased by (i) 197 percent, (ii) 202 percent, (iii) 9.4 percent, and (iv) 15.2 percent, respectively. That is, the scale of regional financial development and the efficiency of indirect financial development have increased more than the other proxy variables.

Information Extraction and Knowledge Graph Construction for Enterprises in China’s Free Trade Zone

With the establishment and rapid development of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ), the scale of enterprises in the zone has grown rapidly. This paper takes the actual needs of the Shanghai FTZ as the background, extracts key information such as entities from the Big Data related to Internet enterprises, further constructs the enterprise knowledge graph, and applies it to the supervision and service of the FTZ. The enterprise knowledge graph is constructed using the Neo4j graph database. To verify the effectiveness of the named entity identification and relationship extraction methods proposed in this paper, experiments were conducted to validate them, and both achieved good results.

Monitoring land subsidence using interferometric synthetic aperture radar time-series analysis: a case of Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone

Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone (SPFTZ) is the first free trade zone in China, consisting of eight independent zones and located in Pudong New District. With the rapid development in the SPFTZ, frequent human activities may induce severe land subsidence. Based on time-series interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) technique and multitemporal C-band images, the temporal and spatial evolution of subsidence in Pudong New District is obtained from May 2016 to October 2020. The achieved results show that severe subsidence occurred in the east of the study area, where the maximum subsidence rate was −40 mm / year. Most of the land in the SPFTZ remained stable, but small-scale subsidence with a maximum subsidence rate of −18.1 mm / year occurred in two zones. InSAR-derived results are in good agreement with the manual measurements, with a root mean square error of 1.4 mm. Time-series analysis reveals that land subsidence in the SPFTZ mainly originates from urban constructions, including building construction and vehicle load. Meanwhile, the most severe subsidence occurred in the east of Pudong International Airport, which may be attributed to the airport renovation project. In a reclaimed area, land subsidence can be classified into different construction periods, which gradually weakens from north to south.

The impact of the free trade zone on green total factor productivity ——evidence from the shanghai pilot free trade zone

The green development of free trade zones conforms to the theoretical principles of sustainable development and is key to promoting regional transformation and upgrading. By using synthetic control methods (SCM) based on microscopic data, this paper investigates the net effect of the establishment of the China (Shanghai) pilot free trade zone (SPFTZ) on green total factor productivity (GTFP) in Shanghai. The results show that the SPFTZ has promoted the GTFP in Shanghai. As far as time trend is concerned, the effects of this promotion become more apparent after a short-term period of slow growth. In terms of impact paths, the main driving force of policy is technological progress. Therefore, the SPFTZ should improve GTFP and create greater incentives for technological innovation. Institutional innovation for green development should play a central guiding role in the construction. We need continue to explore other green development models as well as means of creating higher levels of economic openness.

Regulatory Simplifications for Foreign Investors in China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone

The present article deals with the legal regime in Shanghai Free Trade Zone in the context of business activity taken up by foreign (Polish) entities on the territory of the People’s Republic of China. First of all, the author discusses the general problems in international exchange between Poland and the PRC as well as the chief barriers in access to the Chinese market. The following section of the article is devoted to the general legal provisions that apply to foreign businesses in the Middle Kingdom. Part three discusses preliminary issues related to Shanghai Free Trade Zone with regard to partnerships and companies established by foreign entities. The final section concerns the legislative simplifications in the Free Trade Zone as compared with the general regulations which apply to foreign (Polish) businesses in the PRC. The conclusion features an evaluation of the simplifications and their attractiveness for Polish businesses.

Analysis of transportation accessibility in China Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone Lin-Gang Special Area

In the field of territory spatial planning, transportation accessibility is an important index to measure regional transportation networks. It represents how easy it is for regions to communicate with each other. As a new area of Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone, Lin-Gang special area will carry a huge trade market. Therefore, high demands have been put forward on both passengers and freight transport in this region. Based on GIS spatial analysis technology, this paper analyses two types of factors affecting traffic accessibility in the Lin-Gang special area. The first type is road attributes, like road length, road area, road density and road accessibility index. The second type is the spatial pattern of construction land. The results show that the transportation network in Lin-Gang special area is extremely developed, especially the southern area of Pudong International Airport, where the proportion of highway is more than half. The transportation accessibility time to Lin-Gang special area is less than two hours all over Shanghai.

Structural transformation through free trade zones: the case of Shanghai

Launched in 2013, the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) was intended to serve as a platform for testing China’s new policy to facilitate more open trade and further open up its services sectors, such as finance, through easing restrictions on foreign and domestic companies. By 2018, it had attracted over 50,000 member companies. This paper provides an overview of global free economic zones (FEZs), or special economic zones (SEZs), and a detailed study of the Shanghai Pilot FTZ and its success factors and challenges. It draws out lessons that may be applicable to other developing countries.

Evaluation of Land Intensive Use in Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone

Free trade zones represent an important system innovation space to realize economic agglomeration advantages with high-level openings. However, its evaluation of land intensive use has not received enough attention. The goal of this paper is to build a land use performance evaluation index system in line with the development trend of industrial economy and the characteristics of mixed land use in the free trade zones. An evaluation index system is constructed based on the three factors of land use status, land use efficiency and pilot free trade zone influence. Using the Delphi method and the entropy method, an empirical evaluation of the intensive land use level in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone is conducted. The results show the following: (1) integrating new indicators such as the free trade zone influence, social and ecological benefits into the evaluation index system show a characteristic and innovative land use evaluation; (2) in terms of the level of intensive land use, the Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone has the highest intensity, followed by the Yangshan Free Trade Port Zone, and the Pudong Airport Comprehensive Free Trade Zone has the lowest intensity; and (3) development time, degree of land use, differences in leading functions, industrial land structures, and the diversification of employment structures are important factors that influence the differences in the levels of intensive land use in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone. This study also expands the performance evaluation of industrial land to the performance evaluation of construction land and provides references for industrial transformation and urban renewal of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone.

Опыт функционирования свободного порта и новшества таможенного администрирования в Шанхайской пилотной зоне свободной торговли

Опыт функционирования свободного порта и новшества таможенного администрирования в Шанхайской пилотной зоне свободной торговли

A Study of the Anti-Monopoly Review Processes in the Shanghai Free Trade Pilot Zone

Since the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone was founded in September 2013, in order to strength the degree of openness and the development of the Chinese economy, Guangdong Province, Tianjin, and Fujian Province established a free trade zone one after the other in April 2015. With the development and expansion of the free trade zones, there is no doubt that trade liberalization will promote the economic growth of China effectively. However, an important question that needs to be asked is how to balance the role of policy for promoting trade and maintaining fair competition among enterprises by the Anti-Monopoly Law (Ruan, 2007). So the way to manage the correct equilibrium between the anti-monopoly laws and policy of a free trade zone becomes an important but challenging issue. In recent years, the Chinese government has paid more attention to the process of anti-monopoly review and specific laws on anti-monopoly have been promulgated in the free trade zone. It is highly pertinent for business operators to keep abreast of the development in this area. Thus the aim of this article is to discuss the procedure and implementation of anti-monopoly review in China, analyze the anti-monopoly review in the free trade zone, and how this impacts the economic development in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (SPFTZ).

A Retrospective View on the First Three Years of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone

As a test ground for new policies, the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (SPFTZ) has been authorized for three years by the Chinese top legislature to suspend the application of certain provisions of the three foreign investment laws. Different from all the previous SEZs which have received some incentive policies from the central government, the SPFTZ has not been offered any preferential treatment. Instead, it has been encouraged to experiment with new innovative measures in administration. During the first three years of piloting reforms, the SPFTZ shall expedite the functional transformation of the government through limiting the administrative power; expand the opening up of service sectors by releasing the limitations on market access; streamline the administrative regulation on foreign investment; develop the multinational corporation headquarter economy with more sophisticated facilities, and try to experiment with new trade forms. As such, experience hence gained shall serve nationwide with new ideas and approaches in the next round of economic reforms.

Employment in China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone

Employment is an important issue for the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone. In the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone the labor relation presents distinct international-oriented character and diverse employment forms. Correspondingly, in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone some problems relating to the employment, especially the employment of foreigner staff, are challenged by the enterprises. This article tries to put forth some suggestions on how to resolve these problems.

The Management of Foreign Private Equity Funds Involves Foreign Investment and Foreign Exchange in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone

China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone’s management model of post-establishment national treatment to foreign investors is providing replicable and propagable experiences for the comprehensive deepening reform of China. Foreign private equity funds involve foreign investment and foreign exchange management and other systems which could be a representative sample of reform. However, even after the removal of previous unnecessary regulations, the reform of the post-establishment national treatment access is not absolute equality and fully liberalized for developing a concurrent regulation and ex-post regulation framework. Specifically, there is a need to simplify procedures in the stage of establishment and use the same barriers to entry with domestic capital, adopt the “negative list” management model in the part of investment; gradually promote the liberalization of foreign exchange, and monitor whether the flow of funds is real compliance, and also, make a national security review of fund acquisitions.

Intellectual Property Protection in China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone-Judicial and Administrative Practice in Trademark Infringement of OEM

Trademark Infringement of Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) is an important issue in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone. Such trademark infringement disputes arising from conflicts between the foreign client with foreign trademark rights and the domestic trademark owner with a similar trademark on the same or similar goods are arguable since the so-called “infringement” barely results in confusing or misleading the relevant people. However, court verdicts on this issue have been inconsistent. Furthermore, the customs department’s approach in determining infringement of OEM has been restricted by the narrow scope of interpretation of the relevant provision in the trademark law. Stemming from the differing approaches taken by the courts and the administrative authority, this article attempts to trace the root of the problems and suggest viable solutions.

개혁기 중국 `국가 신자유주의` 공간: 상하이 자유무역시험구와 그 외부

개혁기 중국 `국가 신자유주의` 공간: 상하이 자유무역시험구와 그 외부

Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Its Effect on Economic Growth: A Counter-Factual Approach

Together with the deepening of globalization and economic integration, trade and investment liberalization has played more important role in economic cooperation. Besides the free trade agreements among member countries, free trade zone is also considered to establish a favorable environment in order to attract foreign investment and promote economic growth of the areas laying inside and outside the zone. On the basis of economic reforming and trade liberalization initiative, China approved the establishment of Shanghai Pilot free trade zone on September 29th, 2013. The Shanghai Pilot free trade zone is the experiment area of the whole country’s national economic transition process. For the first time, many new policies and management mode were adopted in this area to examine their performance and usability. This study aims to analyze the policy’s effect of Shanghai pilot free trade zone on Shanghai economic growth. By using counter-factual method, the study compares the difference of Shanghai GDP in counter-factual scenario from the actual scenario and figures out the policy effect with the existence of the free trade zone. Therefore, the finding emphasizes the strong effect of Shanghai free trade zone on its economic growth. Understanding the economic effect of Shanghai pilot free trade zone is necessary to further up investment and trade liberalization in China.

Reviewing Trade Policy in China During the Transition to Balanced Economic Growth

AbstractThe paper reviews the World Trade Organization's analysis of developments in China's trade policy during 2012–14. The review overlaps with the continuing Great Recession and with China's determination to foster a sustainable rate of economic growth. Developments in the country's trade policy include the launching of the Shanghai pilot free trade zone. China faces a series of trade policy‐related challenges including the complex process necessary to internationalise the renminbi.