CSSN-Development index for free trade zones released

Development index for free trade zones released

Author : Source : Chinese Social Sciences Today 2017-09-28

At a recent forum, the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics released an index that evaluated the development of China’s pilot free trade zones in Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangdong and Fujian based on three indicators: confidence, innovation and influence. Zhao Xiaolei, director of the Institute of Free Trade Zones from the university, said that the index takes into consideration such factors as investment, foreign trade, finance and employment to measure comprehensive situation and explore development laws of the zones. Data showed that the index for free trade zones as a whole was at a high level of 80.39. The index for Shanghai Free Trade Zone was higher than the other three, but the gap is shrinking. Scholars suggested improving the legal system to further enhance economic influence of free trade zones.

Editor: Yu Hui