Shanghai free trade zone heralds new strategy of reform and opening-up and goes with global economic trends

The China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, which was officially launched on Sept 29, is another strategic move in China's latest round of efforts to boost its process of opening-up through further reform.

Since China embarked on the voyage of reform and opening-up more than 30 years ago, every decade has witnessed a growth cycle. The 1980s saw all the key economic factors pay dividends. The second cycle, the 1990s, reaped dividends in system reform, and the third decade, the first of the 21st century, brought dividends from globalization.