At the eight-day "two sessions", Shanghai deputies submit many suggestions and proposals to promote the reform and opening-up of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. [Photo/Xinhua]

This year's government work report, delivered at the opening meeting of the third session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, said that China will promote a higher standard of opening up and stabilize the overall performance of foreign trade and foreign investment, and the country will grant greater autonomy in reform and opening up to pilot free trade zones (FTZs).

NPC deputies from Shanghai expressed great determination to advance high-level opening-up in the Shanghai FTZ.

Chen Mingbo, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai government, suggested that the country should empower Shanghai to set up a specific area for opening up to foreign investment, support the city launching a pilot project in the Lingang Special Area of Shanghai FTZ for reducing restrictions on foreign investment in value-added telecommunication services, and encourage foreign-funded enterprises to become more involved in the research and development (R&D) of cell therapy.

A cross-border asset trading platform should be set up in Lingang Special Area, and a national innovative platform should be established in the pilot area for integrated ecological development in the Yangtze River Delta region, Chen said.

Zhu Songzhi, executive deputy director of the Lingang Special Area Administration, advised that the area will achieve breakthroughs and make leading results in some key areas.

A more competitive policy system will be issued for the area, in an effort to better integrate with international practices. The government should give full play to the institutional advantages of the special area, strive to enhance the level of opening-up, and promote the high concentration of key factors, Zhu said.

The government should accelerate the development of piggyback shipping business, and encourage all entitled foreign ships to carry out piggyback shipping business in foreign trade containers using Yangshan Deep-Water Port as an international transit hub, according to Xu Juehui, managing director of Shanghai Port International Cruise Terminal Development Co.

She added that the layout of shipping routes should be optimized, and a brand offering high-efficiency operation services should be set up to inject confidence into the development of the shipping industry, and enhance resource allocation capabilities of the Shanghai international shipping center.

Hang Yingwei, chief of Pudong New Area in Shanghai, suggested that more support should be provided to Pudong in rule of law, giving full play to its role as a national example.

Hang said that the government should give more support to Pudong to further advance high-level opening-up, and develop an open economy at a higher level.

The government should increase the openness of the manufacturing industry, and continue to open up the service sector. Enterprises should be encouraged to make full use of both domestic and international markets and resources, and the government should guide and support the pooling of key factors of innovation to beef up scientific and technological innovations, according to Li Guohua, deputy head of Pudong.

He added that relying on Zhangjiang Science City, a national pilot zone will be established to speed up the development of the cell and gene industries.