BOFIT Weekly Review 2016/36
More free-trade zones for China
At the end of August, the Chinese government approved the establishment of new free-trade zones (FTZs) in seven inland provinces. China’s first FTZ was established in Shanghai in autumn 2013 and it was followed in December 2014 with FTZs in Fujian, Guangdong and Tianjin. With seven new FTZs, the number them rises to eleven and they now expand from the coast to inland provinces. The nature and roll-out schedules of the latest round of FTZ pilot programmes have yet to be specified. Despite mixed reactions to FTZ trials, the new FTZs will increase pressure for business deregulation throughout China.