China is set to use the Shanghai free-trade zone as a testing ground to grant Chinese people greater freedom to make overseas investments, according to the most senior official in Shanghai.
“One of our key objectives is allowing qualified individuals within the free trade zone to open capital accounts in a gradual and orderly manner, on condition of good risk control,” said Han Zheng, party secretary of Shanghai and a member of China’s 25-strong politburo, in an interview with the Financial Times.
Mr Han’s comments came on the eve of Monday’s debut of the Shanghai-Hong Kong stock connect. He did not give details on how the new initiative would be rolled out.