Shanghai FTZ to speed up data flow, cooperation

An entrance to the Lingang Special Area of the China Pilot Free Trade Zone. The China Pilot Free Trade Zone will further focus on facilitating data flow and strengthening international data cooperation, to advance institutional opening-up by aligning with high-standard economic and trade rules, local officials said on Tuesday. Zhu Min, director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, said the formulation of important data catalogs and the establishment of a legal, safe and convenient cross-border data flow mechanism should be first attempted in the Pudong New Area, where the Shanghai FTZ is located, as the general plan has suggested. Lingang Special Area, the part of the Shanghai FTZ included in 2019, is expected to roll out its first batch of general data lists and key data catalogs in March, said Zhao Yihuai, deputy director of Lingang's administrative committee. The general plan said that financial institutions can transfer data required for daily operations to overseas destinations, as guided by China's security rules for cross-border transmission and the related data classification regulations.