The China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ), with its pioneering institutional innovations, hosts the world's largest artwork bonded warehouse — the Shanghai International Artworks Bonded Service Center, which is located in the Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone within Shanghai's Pudong New Area.

Acting as a colossal safe deposit box, the center securely houses priceless artworks, caters to the tailored needs of numerous art pieces, and attracts high-quality artwork resources from around the globe, solidifying Shanghai's position as a key international artwork trading hub.

Leveraging its institutional advantages, the Shanghai FTZ has been actively promoting the trade of cultural relics and artworks. In recent years, it has established a complete service chain for the entry and exit of cultural relics and artworks, including customs clearance, entry, display, trade, agency, tax exemption, delivery, and settlement, creating the fastest, most efficient and most comprehensive cultural relic and art import and export channels in China.

From 2013 to 2023, the value of cultural relics and artworks entering and exiting the pilot free trade zone's bonded area has surged from 35 billion yuan ($4.9 billion) to over 100 billion yuan annually, with the total number of transactions growing from dozens to over tens of thousands.

The efficiency of the free trade zone has propelled the high-quality development of the cultural relic and artwork market, leading to a cumulative value of over 100 billion yuan in imports and exports.

More art exhibitions and transactions, facilitated through the pilot free trade zone in Shanghai, are extending their reach nationwide.