Shanghai mulls plan to bypass Great Firewall in bid to woo more foreign investment

An aerial view of the Tesla Gigafactory in Shanghai's Lingang New Area, September 26, 2023.
Shanghai is exploring the possibility of allowing businesses in certain areas to bypass the country's Great Firewall and access internet sites overseas, as Beijing ramps up efforts to attract more foreign investment in 2025.
Shanghai is exploring measures to bypass the Great Firewall for businesses in free trade zones like Lingang New Area and Hongqiao district to promote foreign investment and enhance cross-border data transfers. The plan aims to ease restrictions for international companies.
Although China's rigid internet regulations have kept many foreign platforms, from Google to Facebook, out of reach without using a virtual private network, some jurisdictions - including officially designated "free trade zones" - are trying to poke holes in the firewall to woo overseas businesses.
Shanghai's municipal government is considering a proposal that would give businesses in the Lingang New Area, part of the city's free-trade zone in Pudong district, and those
According to a policy document released earlier this month, Shanghai said it would "support the convenience of enterprises in the business district to access the international internet" and "upgrade the dedicated channel for international internet" in Hongqiao.
The measures were aimed at making the Hongqiao International Central Business District - a subarea west of the city which covers the Hongqiao International Airport and a number of business hubs - into a centre for international trade.
A similar plan is being considered for Lingang New Area to facilitate cross-border data transfers for companies in the zone, including US electric car giant Tesla.
However, it remains unclear when direct access to the international internet would be allowed.
If implemented, businesses can "bypass various channels" and "access the international internet through a direct channel", which speeds up their web browsing, Ding Botao, deputy director at the Information Research Institute of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, told Chinese media earlier this month.
Shanghai is not alone in such efforts. Several other jurisdictions, including Nansha district in Guangzhou, are implementing fast track cross-border data transfers with Hong Kong and Macau.
The push by local governments for easier access to overseas websites and improved cross-border data flows comes as China is trying to boost foreign investment inflows to counter a trend that has seen its tech industry increasingly become "decoupled" from the rest of the world.
The Ministry of Commerce, the body in charge of attracting foreign investment, said China has removed all obstacles for foreign investment in the manufacturing sector, and that the country is looking to ease restrictions on trade in services to lure capital inflows. Foreign direct investment in mainland China that was "in actual use" last year fell 27.1 per cent year on year to 826.25 billion yuan (US$112.8 billion), according to official data.
Ministry spokesman He Yadong said at a press conference on Thursday that China would "steadily advance the opening-up of the service industry and promote the expansion of pilot projects" in the fields of telecommunications, healthcare and education.
Source: https://www.yahoo.com
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