European Chamber urges acceleration of reforms for Shanghai to reach its 2020 Goal Go back »

2015-01-21 | Shanghai

The European Chamber’s European Business in China Shanghai Position Paper 2014/2015, published today—the first in a series of standalone local European Chamber Chapter position papers—focuses exclusively on Shanghai and provides recommendations for the city’s continued development based on the latest views and concerns of European business in Shanghai.

The government has set ambitious goals for Shanghai to become an international financial, trade, economic and shipping centre by the year 2020—the ‘Shanghai 2020 Goals’—targets that are commensurate with the city’s stature and overall importance to the global economy. The European Chamber’s Shanghai Chapter fully supports these goals, yet believes that the current pace of reforms should be accelerated.

The aim of the Shanghai Position Paper is to provide constructive recommendations to help the Shanghai Municipal Government reach its goals, while it simultaneously leads the way for China’s overall reform agenda as set out in the Third Plenum Decision (Decision).

While many of the reforms outlined in the Decision can be implemented at the local level by the Shanghai Municipal Government, much hinges on the effective implementation of reforms at a national level. This is especially true for the China Free Trade Zone model, which was initiated in 2013, with the launch of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (CSPFTZ).

European Chamber Shanghai Chapter Chairman Dr Stefan Sack stated, “Shanghai has been the vanguard of the Chinese Government’s reform agenda, and the CSPFTZ pays great testimony to that: it puts Shanghai in the hot seat when pushing for nationwide reforms. The European Chamber, and European industry in general, warmly welcomed the establishment of the CSPFTZ and its negative-list approach. We had anticipated a speedy, nationwide roll-out of the reforms pioneered in Shanghai. However, the announcement in December 2014 that a total of three new zones would be established in Guangdong and Fujian provinces, and the city of Tianjin, has somewhat subdued the initial enthusiasm.”

Dr Sack continued, “European business sees itself as a trusted partner of the Shanghai Municipal Government in its reform drive – to many of our members, Shanghai is home. Compiling recommendations from our Chapter’s more than 600 member companies the Shanghai Position Paper 2014/2015 complements the Chamber’s annual European Business in China Position Paper, while providing greater focus on issues of particular importance to Shanghai.”

About the European Business in China – Shanghai Position Paper 2014/2015

The European Chamber started incorporating local focus papers into our main lobbying publication, the European Business in China Position Paper, in 2010. The European Business in China – Shanghai Position Paper 2014/2015 is the first in a series of standalone local Position Papers that the European Chamber will be releasing over the course of the first half of 2015 in Beijing, Nanjing, Shenyang, South China, Southwest China and Tianjin.

To download this year’s European Business in China - Shanghai Position Paper, please click here.

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