New'Shanghai zone needs to focus on shipping'
Loosened customs procedures in the area will enable shipping firms to ride a boom in the manufacturing sector, an industry player says
Xiong Hao, a senior executive at a Shanghai shipping firm, doubts whether the city's proposed free-trade zone has what it takes to make it a world-class trading hub.
"The officials want to bite off more than they can chew," Xiong told the South China Morning Post. "They don't seem to understand the role of a free-trade zone and it doesn't make sense to me that the financial sector, rather than trade and shipping, is given priority."
The mainland's commercial sector initially embraced the plan for a free-trade zone with hopes of establishing a mini-Hong Kong territory exempt from custom intervention. But concerns have since grown that the development plan amounts to no more than a renewed effort to transform Shanghai into a global financial centre.
Beijing and local authorities have pledged to make the yuan fully convertible in the free-trade zone, which will initially cover about 30 square kilometres. They have stressed that the zone will be distinct from counterparts around the world, with a focus on financial liberalisation within the area.
"But the manufacturing sector should be the backbone of an economy," said Xiong, an assistant general manager at Shanghai Jump International Shipping. "It is advisable for the government to give tremendous support to the manufacturing and commodity trading sectors by making the most of the policies in the free-trade zone."
Beijing has yet to unveil detailed operating guidelines covering the trial run of the zone, which was officially launched at the end of September, and until now all eyes have been on what financial institutions registered in the zone may be allowed to do.