More than 30 years ago, Deng Xiaoping, the father of China’s economic miracle, supported the creation of special economic zones as a method of introducing capitalism into the country’s communist economy. The zones, most famously Shenzhen, allowed foreign companies the freedom to invest and build factories, kick-starting the nation’s rapid growth. Such reforms eventually spread throughout the entire nation, turning China into the workshop of the world and forever altering global manufacturing.

However, as the second largest economic entity, China is facing the most serious problem since its economic miracle, the advantage in the cost of products is vanishing as the development of its nearby countries, such as Thai and Vietnam. As a result, the economic growth in China is slowing. There is some hope that this Shanghai experiment will have stronger prospects.