More than 800 fims registered in Shanghai FTZ

More than 800 companies have registered in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone since it was officially launched at the end of September, official statistics show.

The FTZ administration committee has received more than 50,000 inquiries from companies and individuals. It expects that 19 opening-up policies in the service sector will be in effect by the end of this year.

Dai Haibo, deputy director of the FTZ administration committee, told Xinhua News Agency that 12 of 23 opening-up policies in the service sector have already been put into effect and another seven should be implemented within the year.

He also said the administration committee will make a thorough checkup of the other 6,000 companies located in the FTZ area and help create bank accounts for them. It will also help advance the process of setting up FTZ accounts for companies and institutions. The committee will also explore foreign exchange reform policies, centralized management of foreign exchange funds, foreign currency capital pool accounts and the like.

The FTZ has adopted appointments for business registration to stabilize numbers to 1,000 a day at present from 3,800 during peak times. Among the newly registered companies, 60 percent are trade companies, more than 30 percent are in the service sector and around 2 percent are financial institutions.

About 30 financial institutions have settled in the FTZ so far. Shenhua Group, China Minmetals Group, China State Shipbuilding Corporation and other Chinese companies are interested in the favorable policies offered by the FTZ as a gate to overseas.