The news was announced just weeks after official data showed foreign direct investment in the country had hit a record quarterly low amid a slump in business confidence.
Shanghai’s free trade zone is one of China’s largest and is slightly bigger than the city of Seattle. The policies are aimed at attracting foreign investment to build an open economy, the government said. Thursday’s measures are the latest effort by Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government to woo foreign capital and stabilize ties with the West.
Foreign companies and investors have grown wary of rising risks in the world’s second largest economy, including a slowdown marked by weak domestic demand and a housing crisis, Beijing’s desire to prioritize national security over economic growth and deteriorating relations between China and many Western countries.