Trade, finance benefit most from pilot zone

Trade and financial services are among the sectors that have been benefiting the most so far in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, analysts said in a half-year review of measures and policies for development in the zone.

Free trade accounts and a capital market for foreign investors are among the items most expected to attract businesses.

Shanghai FTZ to roll out free trade account

Shanghai FTZ to allow cross-border yuan payment for trade

Pilot financial liberalization programs will soon include a free trade account and a capital market for foreign investors, said Dai Haibo, deputy director of the FTZ administration committee, setting a timetable for the launch of both the free trade account and crude oil futures. He was speaking at a news conference on Tuesday.

The expected move will affirm the renminbi as one of the leading currencies in today's rapidly evolving financial arena. It will secure cheaper funding for local companies from offshore sources, according to Zhang Xiaomeng, branch manager of Citi's Shanghai FTZ sub-branch.

Specific rules on the free trade account that allows full convertibility of the yuan and facilitates offshore financing will be rolled out in the second quarter and tested so they can be applied elsewhere in China by September, which will mark the FTZ's anniversary, according to Dai.

Procedural moves by the People's Bank of China, the central bank, have allowed employees working in the FTZ to set up accounts for offshore investments, which ease restrictions on money flow, paving the way for substantial reforms.

According to Qu Hongbin, HSBC Holding Plc's chief economist for Greater China, the nation has a three-pronged approach to renminbi internationalization: Expand the currency's role in foreign trade settlement (it has already overtaken the euro to become second to the dollar), encourage its use in cross-border investment and develop offshore renminbi centers.