Shanghai’s Party Secretary Han Zheng confirmed plans to turn the city’s pilot free trade zone (FTZ) into a world-class free port. The port has entered the “planning stage” and needs to get the green light from the central authorities before moving forward, he added. The announcement of the plan to deepen reform and further open up the economy, has sparked a boom in shares that are port and transportation-related or with Shanghai in their names.

Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone Group Co and Shanghai International Port Group Co were among the stocks that jumped by the daily limit of 10% on October 20. In May, Beijing approved a plan to comprehensively expand the opening-up of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, which, according to Han, marked the ‘3.0 version’ of the FTZ since its debut in 2013 and first expansion two years ago. “System innovation is the core task of the zone,” he said.

Experts said import cargo controls would be further relaxed and customs clearance streamlined in accordance with international practice. “The prospective free trade port is likely to test the waters for trade facilitation measures and provide policy support to the high-tech sector,” according to Sun Yuanxin, Deputy Director of the Research Institute for the Shanghai FTZ at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. “It will take about three to four years to redesign a comprehensive set of rules and revise related regulations,” said Zhu Min, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission.

Shanghai’s FTZ has become a growth engine, contributing to a quarter of the city’s economic output this year, according to Weng Zuliang, Party Secretary of Shanghai’s Pudong New Area. A total of 49,000 enterprises, 20% of with foreign investment, had been established in the zone in the first eight months of 2017, exceeding the number of companies registered in the previous two decades. Earlier this year, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced the launch of an additional seven free trade zones to accelerate the nation’s opening-up and boost the Belt and Road Initiative, taking the number of FTZs to 11, the China Daily reports. Shanghai also plans to accelerate the development of a scientific innovation center with “global influence,” Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong told reporters.