In addition, after the FTZ was launched on Sept 29, a negative list consisting of 1,069 items was made available for foreign investors. This was seen as an innovative management approach which opens the door to foreign investment from any sectors not on the list.

However, most of the visitors to the service center on Monday were Chinese businesses. Foreign faces were a rare sight in the hall, although Chen said they have actually received quite a number of inquiries from foreign investors both online and offline.

He explained registering a foreign-funded company would involve checking with the negative list, leading to more procedures. "It was just the first day for the center to operate. I think many foreign companies are still sitting on the fence at the moment. But I believe we will finally get there," he said.

It seemed fence-sitting wasn't a bad choice at all because many of the domestic applicants also came in unprepared. Luckily for them, the center had set up one-to-one inquiry desks on the second floor to answer specific technical questions.

Intermediary agencies for company registration were also easy to identify in the center. They will help with all the processes but at a cost: 3,000 yuan ($490) for company registration and 20,000 yuan for renting an office registration address for a year.

"Trading, e-commerce and financial services were currently the three hottest sectors for company registration in the FTZ," said Zhu Lin, an agent who was trying to attract customers at the entrance of the center all morning.

"Sometimes you have to go to one of these agents because otherwise it would be very hard to get yourself an office," said a young manager of a State-owned trading company, who asked not to be identified.