Waigaoqiao is Back!
| BY
clpstaff &clp articlesIts competitive advantage threatened by the 2004 release of legislation allowing foreign-invested enterprises to trade in most goods throughout China, the county's largest free trade zone Waigaoqiao has fought back with its lobbying for a more level playing field.
By Angela Li and Carson Block, Jones Day, Shanghai
While the Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone (WFTZ) remains vibrant, its unique appeal to companies looking to set up trading and distribution centers in the Shanghai area was potentially at risk with the promulgation in mid-2004 of the PRC Foreign Trade Law (中华人民共和国对外贸易法)and the Procedures for the Registration for the Record of Foreign Trade Operators. In-line with China's WTO commitments, these regulations granted foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) the right to trade in most goods throughout China as foreign-invested commercial enterprises (FICEs), thereby eating into the WFTZ's traditional competitive advantage. In expectation of this, before the WFTZ began to feel many of the ill-effects of the new regulations, it successfully lobbied the central government for free trade zone (FTZ) liberalization initiatives that level the playing field. In fact, some may argue that the latest initiatives may even tilt the playing field in the WFTZ's favour.
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