The Shanghai People’s Congress, the city’s legislature, has specified the relaxed rules for the Pudong New Area.

On June 10, the standing committee of the National People’s Congress authorized the SPC and its standing committee to tailor-make laws for Pudong in accordance with the constitution and the basic principles of laws and regulations.

This was unprecedented in Shanghai because the new area, as one of the administrative units of Shanghai, was supposed to be ruled only by laws made for the city besides national laws.

A decision passed in the standing committee of SPC yesterday specified that laws, regulations and rules promulgated at national level can be tweaked for Pudong.

In legislation areas where no national laws are applicable, the government, the People’s Congress and its standing committee of the Pudong New Area are encouraged to introduce administrative measures for the new area and file legislation suggestions to the legislature of the city, according to the decision.

The decision requires strengthened coordination between governments of the city and the new area to push for systematic openings of the new area and to amplify the overall impacts of the reform. The Pudong New Area, home to China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, is one of the frontiers of China’s reform and opening-up.