A news briefing is held on June 20 to detail the second "model company" selection campaign of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone. [Photo/paper.ce.cn]

A news briefing celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and the second "model company" selection campaign of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) was held in Shanghai on June 20.

This year's selection campaign aims to highlight the Shanghai FTZ's opening-up, high-quality development, and innovative breakthroughs overcoming obstacles by promoting the moving and successful stories from reform and innovation. It will focus on the mutually beneficial results of the Shanghai FTZ's reform and innovation, as well as the achievements of its enterprises.

The selection campaign is accessible to all the Shanghai FTZ-registered companies, expect awardees of the first selection campaign, including State-owned, private, and foreign companies that have employed the zone's innovative policies and achieved good results. Ten classic model companies and several sample enterprises embodying institutional innovation are expected to be selected.

"The campaign intends to showcase the zone's reform and innovation achievements over the past six years, as well as promote future high quality development. Emphasis should be placed on model company selection, institutional innovation, and comprehensive consideration of social and economic benefits, as well as policy coverage to show institutional dividends," said Wang Hua, deputy head of Pudong New District and deputy director of the Shanghai FTZ management committee.

Pedestrians walk past the entrance of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone. [Photo by Wu Jun/For China Daily] 

The "model company" selection was initiated in 2017, in which  suggestions and expectations from companies were collected. 

"This year, we will continue to focus on the feelings and expectations of market participants," said Wang Ying, an official at the Shanghai FTZ administrative committee.

By the end of this month, the applicant list will be collected and reduced to a preliminary list of 50 candidates. An investigation team will conduct surveys on the candidates in July. The results will be announced in September.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the PRC, the sixth anniversary of the establishment of the Shanghai FTZ, and the first year that the new area of the FTZ has been set up. 

Statistics unveiled at the briefing show that between September 2013 and April 2019, 60,000 new companies settled in the Shanghai FTZ, 1.6 times the number of enterprises that settled in the region in the previous two decades. 

More than 11,000 companies are foreign-funded, with the ratio rising from five percent in 2013 to 20 percent. 

Shanghai FTZ's institutional innovation has stimulated the market vitality and helped the zone gain momentum in its opening-up efforts, driving its high-quality development.