Cities wrong to bank on FTZ status

So, as Chinese leaders stated last week, there won't be a massive stimulus despite the economic slowdown. There won't be money for local governments to build more ghost towns (enough is enough). There won't be large increases in industrial output, which used to be the main driver of GDP. There won't be as much growth in exports either, according to merchants from the continuing spring session of Canton Fair 2014 in Guangzhou.

And economists say things will remain by and large unchanged into the second quarter of the year, when GDP could fall further to just above 7 percent year-on-year.

What else can we expect from China in the coming three or so months? One source of excitement, to be sure, will be the competition among local governments to ask Beijing to grant them more freedoms for trade and capital import. Since Shanghai was chosen to be China's pilot free trade zone last August, nearly every other province or municipality has reportedly started its own campaign for similar, if not equal, status.