Yangtze Briefing | Time running out for Shanghai's free-trade zone
Seven months after scheme announced, few businesses see good reason to hang out their shingle in the 'Hong Kong of the Yangtze'
As more details of regulations for Shanghai's free-trade zone trickle out, it is clear that the business community, local government officials and ordinary residents have less and less reason to celebrate.
It was widely expected that Shanghai would draw up specific rules governing the development of the FTZ, providing a commercial legal framework on par with international standards.
But now the Shanghai People's Congress admits the regulations will fall short of the public's expectations.
In late September, when the State Council chose Shanghai as the site of the mainland's first FTZ, the rule of law was a primary concern for potential local and overseas investors.
Foreign firms shied away from what was supposed to be the mainland's testing ground for reforms amid worries that the contracts they signed wouldn't be protected by mainland law. The municipal government, in an apparent effort to assuage such fears, announced it would draw up specific rules to make the zone more investor-friendly.