The zone will be located in Shanghai’s Wai Gao Qiao free trade district and will be called a ‘Special cultural administrative region.’
As reported by the Hollywood Reporter and picked up from Shanghaiiist (always a good read) the proposed free trade zone in Shanghai’s Pudong district would be the result of an agreement signed in September by Hong Kong’s Salon Films and city government-backed Shanghai Oriental Huiwen International Cultural Services Trading.
Salon Chairman Fred Wang said, ‘The Chinese government will be using Wai Gao Qiao as a testing ground for its cultural trade policies and strategic reform for import and export of films and other cultural products.
He added, ‘Salon is facilitating the policymaking with proposals such as a free market for imported motion pictures from the U.S. within the zone as well as an increase of exported Chinese films to the U.S.’
No one is quite sure yet how it will work but it is plainly a move in the right direction.