Central Government has agreed in principle to approve 12 new free-trade zones, three months after giving the special status to Shanghai. Candidates would include Guangdong, Zhejiang Zhoushan, Qingdao, Chengdu, Wuhan, Hangzhou, etc.
Guangdong and Shanghai were the leaders in free-trade zones on the back of developed rail and road infrastructure and the availability of talent, financial services, logistical networks and information technology support. It is expected that not all zones will have the same pace of development, because of difference stages of economic and infrastructure development and competitions among them will be very strong.
~ SCMP, January 23, 2014 ~