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President Xi Jinping said lessons learned after more than a year of operating the FTZ in Shanghai could be applied to other areas. Photo: EPA

Xi Jinping urges expansion of Shanghai FTZ across mainland

President wants such special economic areas to be replicated across the mainland

President Xi Jinping has urged policymakers to expand the Shanghai free-trade zone pilot scheme to other parts of the country, calling the zone the "seeds" of mainland economic reform.

Addressing the Communist Party's leading group for overall reform, Xi said lessons learned after more than a year of operating the FTZ in Shanghai could be applied to other areas, Xinhua reported.

"We should plant these seeds in more land so that flowers will blossom and fruits will be harvested as quickly as possible," he said, adding that the zones should eventually be expanded across the mainland.

The president's remarks followed media reports over the weekend that a plan to set up an FTZ in Tianjin had been endorsed by ministry-level regulators and was awaiting the State Council's go-ahead.

The mainland's first FTZ was launched in Shanghai in September last year as an experimental ground for more drastic economic reforms amid ambitions to develop the 29 sq km zone into a mini-Hong Kong.

At the time, Beijing said the zone would be copied elsewhere if it turned out to be a success.

But the much-hyped Shanghai zone has been losing its lustre as it lacks substantial financial liberalisations and strong incentives to boost business activities.

Beijing had promised to make the yuan fully convertible in the zone and give market forces full play in an effort to emulate Hong Kong's free port, but the response of foreign businesses has been lukewarm, with complaints about slow progress in liberalising the market.

To date, the only significant step the zone has taken is the establishment of a gold trading platform inviting foreign investors to play the precious metal.

In January it was reported that 12 more FTZs around the country were in the pipeline, including one in Guangdong that would consolidate the province's economic ties with Hong Kong.

In the same meeting, Xi also called for the development of a "new type of think tank". Intellectual resources were crucial to China's development, he said.

But the think tanks should be under the Communist Party's leadership and adhere to "correct direction" and "focus on the overall situation", Xinhua quoted Xi as saying.

He added that the party, government-affiliated think tanks and non-governmental ones should be developed in a coordinated manner.

Xi also said any major reform should be implemented in accordance with the law, and that it was important for policymakers to also be familiar with the legislative issues involved when considering reform measures.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Xi calls for more FTZs like that in Shanghai
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