The experiment that could signal China’s next 'great leap'

China is embarking on an experimental free trade zone in Shanghai. It’s something investors should keep a keen eye on, says Lars Henriksson.

A few years ago I did a tour of Shanghai on a mini-bus with a group of chain-smoking city officials and politicians. After a lunch of hairy crabs, we set out for the Himalayas Centre in Pudong, the city's financial hub.

The centre is a vast complex of shops and restaurants, with a hotel, theatre and museum too. And it's a very odd place. The museum, for example, looks like a great cave with it's curved stone walls looming above you.

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Lars is an emerging-markets expert, with many years of 'on the ground' experience hunting down profit opportunities in Asia. Lars spent ten years living in Malaysia and Thailand, seeking out strategic opportunities, before moving to London to manage the Oracle Asia Absolute Fund. In short, Lars has real knowledge of where the opportunities in Asia are.