A glimpse into the lives of 10 expats in Shanghai FTZ

A 10-episode documentary series about the work and life of expatriates in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone has been released to celebrate the zone's 10th anniversary.

The "Eyes of the World on FTZ" series features ten expats from all walks of life.

To name just a few, they include Alex Zhavoronkov, founder of Insilico Medicine; Chris Hardie, chief designer of Shanghai Library East; David Brode, head of the Spanish Pavilion at the Global Hub; and Vadim Grinenko, a fellow at the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute.

At the launch ceremony held on Tuesday, Brode told Shanghai Daily that the Pudong New Area, along with the free trade zone, plays a crucial role in his life.

He's been in Shanghai for over 12 years, and spent nearly two thirds of his time in the FTZ.

"It's a very vibrant place, full of energy. It has a good business environment, with a lot of international companies and people from abroad. And there's also a lot of services and resources," he noted.

As for the Waigaoqiao bonded area, Brode compares it to a concentrated platform where everything is accessible, like trading, finance, business, supply chain, logistics, and especially bonded warehousing for things like e-commerce which are so important these days.

"You have everything at your fingertip. You can basically operate a business and grow it just from one spot. You don't need to move around. So, it's very efficient and very beneficial," the American said.

Brode added that he's looking forward to seeing more opening-up in the next decade.

A new promotion video about Pudong has also been released.

All these videos will be available on major platforms such as Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok; and Bilibili at home, and Facebook and Twitter from abroad.