China’s Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone (hereinafter referred to as “SHFTZ”) has been running for more than one year so far. The establishment of the SHFTZ is an important Chinese strategy in a key stage when the global and Chinese economies are both undergoing significant transitions, which will have a far-reaching impact on China’s transformation and development in the long term. Based on his own experience accumulated from participating in the preparation of the overall plan for the SHFTZ and his observations since its official operation officially began, the author conducts review of issues such as expected goals, selection of implementation methods and determination of evaluation criteria with respect to the establishment of the SHFTZ. In his view, the SHFTZ is a key element in China’s national strategy of using opening-up to force further reforms.