Shanghai FTZ Builds Taiwan Merchandise Center to Enable Retail and Trade

According to deputy director of the Shanghai Free-Trade Zone (SFTZ) administration, Zhu Min, the SFTZ is building the “Taiwan Merchandise Center” as a platform to enable Taiwanese small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to display merchandise and engage in trade and investment.

With the SFTZ set to begin operation in June this year and located in the Waigaoqiao district of the zone, Zhu says the center will offer Shanghai residents more affordable Taiwan-made merchandise, presumably realized by not having to travel to Taiwan to shop for such goods, also setting up a platform for interchange, cooperation between SMEs on Taiwan and mainland China.

The SFTZ is expanding from 28.78 square kilometers to 120.72 square kilometers as planned to cope with rising popular demand. According to the administration, the SFTZ's 28.78-sq. kilometer campus has 73,900-plus tenants to date, including 215 Taiwanese enterprises.

The SFTZ is the first of its kind in mainland China, whose establishment was approved last August by the Chinese State Council. The expansion project was approved last December, to cover Lujiazui, a newly developed financial district in Shanghai; Jinquiao, a newly built economic and technological development zone in Shanghai; and Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park.

The SFTZ administration says the expansion enables Taiwanese enterprises to offer better service to potential customers across a bigger area, which also enables the administration to better manage tenants who will not likely encounter as many friction-related issues typically arising from being housed in excessively small office.

At the ceremony on Apr. 27 to mark the unveiling of the administration building of the enlarged zone, Han Zheng, the Chinese Communist Party Secretary of Shanghai, said boldly to all levels of the Shanghai government that the pilot FTZ can never take off and succeed if it is run with conservative mindset, hence also goading the various parties involved to dare push the envelope and innovate when trial-running the zone.