Shanghai Unveils 117 Work Taks to Align with International High-Standard Economic and Trade Rules

On February 6, 2024, Shanghai Municipal People’s Government released the Plan for the Implementation of the General Plan for Comprehensively Aligning with International High-Standard Economic and Trade Rules and Pushing forward the High-level Institutional Opening-up of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (Shanghai FTZ) (the “Plan”) .

The Plan outlines 117 tasks in nine aspects, specifies details on electronic payment, cross-border transmission of financial data, fintech, cross-border asset management, telecommunications services, import and export of goods, commercial cryptography, logistics business models, digital technology applications, intellectual property protection, and government procurement. It calls for exploring the liberalization of the restrictions on non-resident M&A loans in the Lin-gang Special Area, conducting research to allow qualified asset management companies to undertake cross-border asset-backed securities transfer business, and exploring the establishment of an reinsurance “international board” rules system that is in line with global practices. It also supports the pilot investment of insurance funds in gold and other commodities, vowing to conduct research and improve the digital identity authentication system that aligns with global practices, promote research on ethical norms in the artificial intelligence field, formulate guidelines for ethical norms in artificial intelligence, fuel the research and development of innovative drugs with artificial intelligence technology, and accelerate the commercialization of intelligent connected vehicles.