The Lujiazui finance area, in the pilot free trade zone of Shanghai's Pudong New District, has signed a cooperation agreement with the Bank of Beijing on cross-border investment services and financial reforms at a finance forum on Dec 10, with the idea of creating a top business environment for finance, especially emerging finance.

Lujiazui was added to the Shanghai free trade zone this past April and has focused on increasing the global influence of its financial innovations to attract more top assets managers and equity and investment firms through its Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII), Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII), and Qualified Domestic Limited Partner (QDLP) Programs.

Lujiazui already has a great number of top finance institutions, including eight of the 11 top overseas institutions that got the QDLP qualification earlier. It is home to the Aberdeen Asset Management Group, Europe's largest listed fund manager, half of private securities fund members of the Asset Management Association of China, and over 700 private equity funds.

The authorities say that they are working on better, more professional services for local finance companies by cooperating with law and accounting firms, commercial banks, and securities firms, for example, the cooperation with the Bank of Beijing, which is expected to allow local companies to enjoy professional services, such as a new financial product to offer custody services to other banks, securities firms, trust funds and wealth management institutions, which the bank announced on Dec 10.