Free Trade Zones & Free Trade Ports

Shanghai Government Regulations [2023] No. 19

All district people’s governments, municipal government committees, offices and bureaus, and relevant units:

The Implementation Plan of Shanghai Municipality on Implementing Several Measures to Promote Institutional Opening with International High Standards in Pilot Free Trade Zones and Free Trade Ports with Conditions” has been approved by the municipal government and is hereby issued to you.

General Office of Shanghai Municipal People’s Government

August 29, 2023

Shanghai Municipality has implemented the implementation plan of Several Measures to Pilot Docking with International High Standards in Conditional Pilot Free Trade Zones and Free Trade Ports

In order to thoroughly implement the “Several Measures on Piloting International High-standard Institutional Opening in Conditional Pilot Free Trade Zones and Free Trade Ports” (Guo Fa [2023] No. 9), continue to promote the reform and innovation of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area (hereinafter referred to as “Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area”), take the initiative to increase the intensity of stress testing, better undertake the major mission entrusted by the state, promote high-level institutional opening-up, and formulate this implementation plan in combination with actual conditions.

First, the main objectives

The Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area have steadily expanded the opening up of rules, regulations, management and standards in line with the highest standards, the best level and the needs of national strategy. In addition to the pilot measures that require relevant ministries and commissions of the state to issue implementation rules or pilot measures required by relevant ministries and commissions of the state to accelerate the implementation, we will focus on promoting the implementation of various pilot measures in terms of trade in goods, trade in services, digital trade, temporary entry of business personnel, and optimization of the business environment in one year. In the process of implementation, effectively respond to risks, pay attention to excavating typical cases, summarize effective practices and bright results, and timely refine and form institutional innovation results. By the time of the implementation of the first anniversary assessment, the pilot work will have progress, innovation, breakthroughs, results, projects and cases, forming a batch of replicable and replicable experience and practices.

2. Promote the innovative development of trade in goods

(1) The Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area shall formulate pilot plans for the import of remanufactured products, and promptly report them to the competent department of commerce for approval before implementation. The pilot program clarifies the list of remanufactured imported products, the standards and requirements applicable to remanufactured products (including but not limited to quality characteristics, safety and environmental performance, etc.), conformity assessment procedures, regulatory measures, etc.

(2) The following goods temporarily entering the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area from abroad may temporarily not pay customs duties, import value-added tax and consumption tax after the taxpayer provides a guarantee to the Customs at the time of entry: professional equipment (including software, instruments, equipment and supplies used in news reporting or filming of films and television programs, etc.) necessary for the conduct of business, trade or professional activities of temporary entry personnel in accordance with the laws of our country; goods used for exhibitions or demonstrations; commercial samples, Advertising videos and audio recordings; sporting goods necessary for sports competitions, performances or training. The above-mentioned goods shall be re-shipped out of China within 6 months from the date of entry, and shall not be used for commercial purposes such as sale or lease during the temporary entry period.

If it is necessary to extend the period of re-shipment of the country, the formalities for extension shall be completed in accordance with the regulations.

(3) When an enterprise handles import customs declaration, the Customs may grant preferential tariff treatment to the certificate of origin provided by the enterprise, such as only minor errors such as printing errors, typing errors, omissions of non-critical information or minor differences between documents, and when confirming the origin of the goods, the enterprise does not have to repeatedly revise and submit application materials. On the basis of summing up experience, Shanghai Customs has replicated and promoted it throughout Shanghai.

(4) If an enterprise submits an application for extension of the advance ruling to the Customs without any change in the laws, facts and circumstances on which the advance ruling is based, the Customs shall, in accordance with the relevant requirements, improve the work process, accept the application for extension of the advance ruling, and make a decision as soon as possible before the expiration of the validity period of the ruling.

(5) Under the premise of meeting the requirements of China’s customs supervision and completing the necessary quarantine procedures, the Customs shall release the air express goods that have submitted the necessary documents within 6 hours after arrival.

(6) On the premise of complying with the relevant regulations of China and completing the necessary quarantine procedures, the Customs shall release the arriving goods imported by air or sea and submit all the information required for customs clearance within 48 hours.

(7) If the customs duties, other import taxes and fees have not been determined before the arrival of the goods (including upon arrival), but otherwise meet the conditions for release, and a guarantee has been provided to the Customs or relevant procedures have been performed in accordance with the requirements, the Customs shall release them.

(8) When overseas conformity assessment institutions apply for the qualification of conformity assessment institutions in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area, the same or equivalent procedures, standards and other conditions for domestic conformity assessment institutions shall be applied in accordance with the specific requirements of the State Administration for Market Regulation for certification qualification pilots.

(9) If an enterprise imports information technology equipment products in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area, according to the specific work requirements of the State Administration for Market Regulation, the certification body accepts the self-declaration materials provided by the supplier in line with electromagnetic compatibility standards, and after assessing the electrical safety of the product in accordance with the relevant requirements of compulsory product certification, it will issue a compulsory product certification certificate, and mark the electromagnetic compatibility part on the certification certificate as a declaration of conformity, clearly indicating that the products should be imported from the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area.

(10) Enterprises importing wine in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area are allowed to import labels including chateau (winery), classic (classic), clos (vineyard), cream (silky), crusted/crusting (with lees), fine (fine), late bottled vintage (late vintage), noble (noble), reserve (reserve), Descriptors or adjectives such as Ruby (ruby red), Special reserve, Solera, Superior, sur lie, tawny (aged yellow port), vintage or vintage character.

Customs and municipal market supervision departments shall do a good job in compliance supervision of imported wine labeling information in accordance with relevant requirements such as the Food Safety Law, the Measures for the

Administration of Import and Export Food Safety, and the General Principles for the Labeling of Prepackaged Foods.

3. Promote the freedom and facilitation of trade in services

(11) Where a foreign-funded financial institution applies to carry out new financial services already carried out by a Chinese-funded financial institution in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area, the Shanghai financial administration department shall, in accordance with the type, nature, licensing requirements and licensing procedures specified by the state financial administration department for foreign-funded financial institutions to carry out new financial services, implement a license for foreign-funded financial institutions to carry out new financial services, fully granting national treatment to foreign-funded financial institutions and conducting prudent supervision.

(12) For overseas financial institutions, investors of overseas financial institutions, and cross-border financial business providers applying to carry out financial services in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area, the financial management department in Shanghai may, in accordance with the guidance and requirements of the relevant financial authorities of the state, further refine the approval workflow, optimize government services, improve the efficiency of administrative services, and follow the principle of internal and external consistency for overseas financial institutions, investors of overseas financial institutions, For complete and legally compliant applications submitted by cross-border financial service providers related to the development of financial services in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area, the Shanghai financial administration shall make a decision within 120 days and notify the applicant in a timely manner. If a decision cannot be made within the said period, the financial authority shall immediately notify the applicant and strive to make a decision within a reasonable period of time.

(13) Under the guidance and support of the national financial management department, enterprises registered in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area, individuals working or living in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area are allowed to purchase cross-border insurance, investment and other financial services. The specific types of overseas financial services shall be separately stipulated by the state financial administration departments.

(14) The Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area are to formulate a list of encouraged overseas professionals to provide professional services, establish one-way recognition of overseas professional qualifications, implement one-way recognition of overseas vocational qualifications obtained by professionals, and allow qualified professionals with overseas vocational qualifications to provide professional services after examination and filing by relevant departments. The municipal human resources and social security department guides the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area to explore the connection mechanism between the international vocational qualification system and the domestic professional and technical personnel evaluation and training system. Provide convenience for professional and technical talents holding international vocational qualification certificates in professional fields to participate in the city’s professional title review, research the connection method between international professional qualifications for level evaluation and the domestic professional title evaluation system, and explore the introduction of international evaluation standards in key fields and emerging fields.

4. Facilitate the temporary entry of business personnel

(15) Foreign-invested enterprises registered in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area may enjoy the convenience of port visa processing for their accompanying family members of internally transferred experts, and the port visa authority will apply for S2 visas for them to enter and exit the country once and stay for a period of 30 days. After entering the country with the accompanying family members, they can apply at the exit and entry administration department to reissue an S2 visa with the same validity period (up to 5 years) and the same period of stay (up to 180 days) as the visa held by the expert himself. If the expert himself resides in Shanghai for a long time, his family members can accompany him or her to apply for a residence permit for private affairs with the same validity period.

(16) Relevant senior management personnel and accompanying family members of foreign enterprises who intend to establish branches or subsidiaries in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area may enjoy port visa processing facilitation. According to the reason for the invitation, the port visa authority will apply for an R, M or F visa for the executive to enter and exit the country for a period of 30 days, and the family members will apply for S2 visas with them. After entry, eligible foreign executives may apply for the renewal of R, M or F visas valid for no more than 5 years, 180 days of entry stay, and multiple entries at the city’s public security exit and entry administration department, and their families will accompany them to apply for S2 visas. For foreign executives who intend to reside in Shanghai for a long time during the formal preparation period of the company, they can apply for a private affairs residence permit with a validity period of not more than 2 years; after the formal establishment of the company, if the executive himself is officially assigned to work in the city, he can also apply for a work-type residence permit with a validity period of not more than 5 years according to the regulations, and his family members can also apply for a private affairs residence permit with a validity period of not more than 5 years.

5. Promote the healthy development of digital trade

(17) Where an enterprise imports, distributes, sells or uses mass market software (excluding software used in critical information infrastructure) and products containing such software in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area, the transfer or acquisition of the source code of relevant software owned by the enterprise or individual shall not be required as a condition by the relevant departments and their staff.

(18) The market supervision departments of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area shall strengthen research on possible consumption risks in new formats and models of the digital economy and behaviors that may cause potential harm to online consumers, and explore and continuously improve the consumer rights protection system in combination with law enforcement, judicial and other practices.

6. Increase efforts to optimize the business environment

(19) The Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area shall allow all transfers related to foreign investors’ investment to be freely remitted in and out without delay. The wage income and other lawful income of foreign employees of foreign-invested enterprises and employees of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan may be freely remitted in accordance with law. Units and individuals must not illegally restrict the currency, amount, frequency of remittance and repatriation, etc.

(20) If purchasers in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area adopt a single-source method for government procurement, they should fully demonstrate the uniqueness of suppliers and publicize them on the Shanghai Government Procurement Network before the procurement activities begin. When announcing the results of single-source procurement projects, the rationale for adopting the single-source approach should be stated. The financial departments of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and the Lingang New Area shall strengthen supervision and inspection, and promptly correct and regulate those that fail to state or standardize the reasons for adopting the single-source approach.

(21) Under the unified guidance of the State Intellectual Property Office, the municipal intellectual property department will connect the relevant national patent information retrieval links to the “One Thing” of Shanghai Intellectual Property Integrate the service platform, announce the query path, continuously upgrade and optimize the functions of the Shanghai Intellectual Property Information Service Platform, provide more effective and accurate services for enterprises and other business entities in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area, and guide the intellectual property management departments of Pudong New Area and Lingang New Area to increase patent information retrieval services for enterprises and other business entities in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area.

(22) In response to requests for intellectual property-related relief filed by the people’s courts of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area against enterprises and other business entities, after the applicant has provided reasonably available evidence and prima facie proved that its rights are being infringed or will be infringed, the applicant shall promptly take relevant measures in accordance with the relevant judicial rules without first hearing the other party’s statement.

(23) The market supervision departments of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area guide business operators to strengthen internal control and compliance management against unfair competition, conscientiously resist acts of unfair competition, and encourage business operators to establish and improve anti-unfair competition management systems. When investigating acts of unfair competition, guidance is given to the undertakings under investigation, and administrative punishments are not to be given in accordance with law where the circumstances of the undertakings’ acts of unfair competition are minor and have been promptly corrected and no harmful consequences have been caused.

(24) Relying on relevant associations and chambers of commerce, the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area will support enterprises, commercial organizations and non-governmental organizations in the zone to establish voluntary mechanisms to improve environmental performance (including voluntary auditing and reporting, implementation of market-based incentives, voluntary sharing of information and expertise, public-private partnerships, etc.), and encourage their participation in the formulation of voluntary mechanisms for environmental performance evaluation standards.

(25) Relying on relevant associations and chambers of commerce, the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Lingang New Area support enterprises in the zone to voluntarily follow the principles of corporate social responsibility in the environmental field and encourage them to publish annual corporate social responsibility reports.

(26) The municipal human resources and social security department actively explores and improves the system for the disclosure of labor arbitration awards, and guides the labor and personnel dispute arbitration institutions in the Pudong New Area to disclose relevant awards to the public in accordance with the principle of “publication is the norm and non-publication is the exception”.

7. Complete and improve the risk prevention and control system

(27) The Administrative Committee of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and the Administrative Committee of Lingang New Area consolidate the main responsibility, and all relevant departments and units earnestly perform their regulatory responsibilities, while promoting relevant reforms, establish and improve supporting measures for risk prevention and control, strengthen the analysis and judgment of various risks, strengthen the identification of major risks and systematic risk prevention, and establish security risk investigation, dynamic monitoring and real-time early warning mechanisms. Strengthen before, during and after supervision, tighten regulatory systems, innovate supervision methods, strengthen coordinated supervision, and improve a regulatory system with clear powers and responsibilities, fairness and justice, openness and transparency, simplicity and efficiency. Refine prevention and control measures, build a security protection system that integrates systems, management, and technology, and implement various management measures such as foreign investment security review, export control, cybersecurity review, cultural product import content review, and anti-monopoly review.

(28) The Administrative Committee of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and the Administrative Committee of the Lingang New Area, all departments and units shall establish a safety assessment mechanism, cooperate with relevant ministries and commissions of the state, do a good job in safety assessment, analyze and assess new situations and problems in light of changes in the external environment and trends in the international situation, and report major matters in a timely manner.

8. Safeguard Measures

(29) Establish long-term mechanisms. Establish a working mechanism led by the Municipal Commission of Commerce, the Municipal Development and Reform Commission, the Administrative Committee of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone, the Administrative Committee of Lingang New Area and all relevant departments to perform their respective duties and jointly promote it, and conduct regular evaluations to ensure that policies, measures and results are in place. In the process of implementation, where the central and state departments issue relevant laws and regulations, they shall be implemented in accordance with the relevant provisions.

(30) Strengthen the implementation of responsibilities. The Municipal Commission of Commerce, the Municipal Development and Reform Commission, the Administrative Committee of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and the Administrative Committee of the Lingang New Area, and all relevant departments should deeply understand the importance, urgency and complexity of promoting institutional opening up in line with international high-standard economic and trade rules, earnestly shoulder their responsibilities, strengthen cross-departmental collaboration, timely study and coordinate solutions to difficult problems encountered in the process of promotion, solidly advance relevant work, and ensure that all pilot measures take effect.

(31) Strengthen training and publicity. The Municipal Commission of Commerce, the Municipal Development and Reform Commission, the Administrative Committee of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and the Administrative Committee of Lingang New Area, and all relevant departments carry out policy interpretation and enterprise publicity activities in a systematic and regular manner, widely publicize the connotation, highlights and application scenarios of policies through the Internet, television, new media, etc., and expand policy awareness; strengthen policy counseling, and set up consultation telephones as needed to help enterprises make good use of policies.
This implementation plan will take effect on September 1, 2023.