SHANGHAI, Dec. 18 – The city has begun the construction of the mainland’s first free port slated for completion in 2020.

The Shanghai International Shipping Center will include a Yangshan bonded port area and preferential policies such as remission of tax on Chinese-invested foreign vessels and tax rebates on vessels in departure ports.

The center will have a three ports and three zones set-up with Gaoqiao port in Waigaoqiao bonded zone, Pudong International Airport aerial port in Pudong International Airport complex bonded zone, and Yangshan port in Yangshan bonded zone.

“Several preferential policies have been enforced,” Xiao Ling, vice director of Shanghai Development and Reform Commission, told The Global Times during the Shipping Finance Service Summit held last month. “More than RMB40 million has been saved in turnover tax in Yangshan bonded port area since May.”

The shipping center will be a boon for the Yangtze River delta increasing port activity and efficiency in the region. Shanghai had the largest cargo handling capacity in the world at 582 million tons in 2008 and the second largest container throughput at 28 million units.

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