Although thousands of companies have been registered there since the zone was launched in September, it is unclear what special rules apply at the moment for registered businesses.  Li Qiang, partner in O’Melveny and Myers, says: ‘It’s not well defined at this point. Right now they are delivering some goodies but it’s not something that’s terribly transformational.’

Benefits

Meanwhile Linklaters is considering a tie-up with a local Chinese firm which would allow joint working in the SFTZ. It already has offices in Shanghai and Beijing. Marc Harvey, Linklaters Asia managing partner, says the firm is waiting on clarification of some proposed new rules. He says: ‘The pronouncement is that the benefits of the SFTZ will be extended to law firms. We've been looking at our next move in China for some time and that is something that interests us a great deal.’ Source: Financial Times and Legal Week