Officially launched on 29 September 2013 with the backing of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, it is the first free-trade zone in mainland China and covers an area of 240.2 square kilometres (92.7 sq mi).

These introduce several reforms favourable to foreign investment in the FTZ, including emergency arbitration, hybrid mediation/arbitration, and lower barriers to summary procedure.

In addition to these financial reforms, the FTZ also introduces a simplified procedure for foreign investors to establish a company in China.

[13] According to the Shanghai Statistics Bureau, close to 10,000 businesses had registered within the FTZ as of June 2014—661 of which were foreign-invested enterprises.

Moreover, commercial space was quickly snatched up by speculators betting on the future desirability of the zone's preferential policies.

Notably, enterprises are permitted to register virtual offices in the FTZ, through which they can still enjoy the zone's distinctive regulations.

[22] In one of the first measures introduced as part of the Shanghai FTZ, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) launched a cross-border E-commerce platform, buyeasi.com (Chinese: 跨境通; pinyin: Kuàjìng tōng).

This was intended to stymie the widespread evasion of customs duty and smuggling that have emerged amidst China's booming e-commerce market through online vendors such as Taobao.

As a result of the rush of companies looking to incorporate in the zone, industrial property (warehouses) has witnessed soaring rental prices in comparison with elsewhere in Shanghai.

[27] Under legislation issued by the Shanghai Municipal Government, foreign investors may establish wholly foreign-owned enterprises (WFOE) in the medical industry in the FTZ.

Both forms of establishment are subject to certain conditions, such as a minimum total investment of RMB20 million and a maximum operating period of 20 years.