China's Central Bank has released a batch of new policies to improve financial services in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. This comes with aims of attracting more foreign talent and increasing money flows through the FTZ.

Lee Say Eng is an expert in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. It was very complicated for him to transfer his income in China to his family in Malaysia. Then he opened an individual free trade account, as China's central bank announced improvements in personal financial services within the zone.

"My money can now go directly to supporting my family, to buying financial products. The new policy will make our lives a lot easier," said Lee Say Eng.

"The new policy allows more expats and overseas Chinese who meet the threshold to open an individual free trade account. These high-skilled foreigners have a higher demand for efficient cross-border financial services, including equity investment and wealth management," said Zhao Rong, general manager of Shanghai Branch, Bank of China.

The policy change will be especially be appreciated in Shanghai's Pudong New District. About 1,7000 foreign residents live there, making up 1.3% of the population, far above the level of Beijing and Shenzhen.

"In the past, we built a lot of international schools and hospitals when mentioning improvements to infrastructure to meet the needs of foreign talents. The opening of these accounts is part of our efforts to make Shanghai more convenient and attractive for their work and lives," said Liu Chao, division chief of Human Research and Social Security Bureau, Pudong, Shanghai.

China's central bank will allow private equity funds and projects in the Free Trade Zone to raise capital in the zone and overseas to meet demand for cross-border investments. Multinational firms will be allowed to set up capital pools in the Chinese currency using Shanghai Free Trade Zone accounts to manage yuan holdings globally.