Shanghai Free Trade Zone in Flux, Senior Official, Dai Haibo Departs

The Shanghai Free Trade Zone’s (FTZ) most senior official, Dai Haibo, has relinquished his duties as Executive Deputy Director and Communist Party Chief, following alleged disciplinary violations.

Shanghai’s FTZ is a key nexus for yuan trading and is the first of its kind in Mainland China. Initially set up as a proving ground for free yuan convertibility and interest-rate pilots, the FTZ was afforded a three-year edict to foster unique regulatory exemptions, namely the abolition of Forex deposit caps, cross-border yuan settlements and foreign loans.

As Executive Deputy Director in the FTZ, Mr. Dai was tasked with day-to-day operations and management of all municipal undertakings, including monitoring investments and a trial of targeted economic liberalizations. It is unclear what the nature of Mr. Dai’s violations were, however the FTZ has two years remaining on its mandate. No succession candidate was announced at this time.