Shanghai takes action to further open up its economy

China’s number one trade hub Shanghai is taking the lead with the introduction of a slew of policies to support the national objective of further opening its doors to global goods.

The city had in July rolled out 100 new measures pertaining to the further opening-up of sectors including finance, industrial systems, intellectual property rights protection, imports and business environment.

According to the action plan, the city will use the upcoming China International Import Expo as a chance to promote more measures that facilitate customs clearance, which would in turn attract more international companies to set up their supply chain centers in Shanghai.

“Such policies will strengthen Shanghai’s position as the leading import hub of the country,” said Shen Weihua, deputy director of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce .

About 90 percent of the measures in the action plan are expected to be implemented by the end of the year, according to Shen. The action plan can be seen on the Shanghai government website.

The import volume at Shanghai customs reached 1.75 trillion yuan ($256.61 billion) for the first half of this year, up 9.7 percent compared to the same period last year, accounting for more than a quarter of the country’s total imports, according to the commission.

“Our import volume tops all the cities in the country,” Shen said. “And being China’s major logistics hub, Shanghai is also serving other cities as many goods are then transported to other parts of the country.”

Shanghai Shine-Link is one of the many logistics companies in Shanghai that enjoys the many favorable policies introduced in recent years. The logistics company, which was listed in the Shanghai A-Share market in 2017, services more than 30 international companies.

“We witnessed the establishment of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone in 2013 and have since been able to provide our clients many services because of the measures that facilitate customs clearance,” said Qu Pinnan, director of the company’s service quality department.

Shi Zhibin, director of the AsiaPacific logistics center for German electronic parts maker Weidmuller, pointed out that the new policies are a welcome introduction as they would reduce operation costs and boost confidence in the China market.