Located along the Yangtze River economic belt, the FTZ witnessed dramatic economic growth in the past two years, with its international consumption goods center reaching a sales volume of 20 billion yuan by the end of 2013.

The wine import industry is booming in the FTZ, which has transformed the zone into the second largest wine import port in Jiangsu with wine imports topping 3 million liters in the past three quarters. Seventy famous domestic and global wine enterprises and logistics firms, such as Fujian-based Moie Wines Co, Xiamen's Way to Tasty Foods Co, and French brand Les Grands Chais de France (a major player in the business of wine and spirits in France and abroad), have settled in Zhangjiagang.

In the upcoming five years, Zhangjiagang plans to build a global influential consumption goods market gathering 1,000 companies and reaching sales volume of 100 billion yuan.

As for the traditional market, the Jiangsu Chemical Exchange in the FTZ is now a benchmark for the domestic liquid chemical industry. It plans to attract 100 more companies and accomplish a turnover of 80 billion yuan this year.

The FTZ also boasts the country's only grain and oil trade market exchange with its settled enterprises being top players in the field. The market is expected to achieve 30 billion yuan in turnover and 150 million yuan in tax revenue in the next five years.

The FTZ has also put effort into infrastructure improvement, including a 80,000-square-meter modern storehouse built by Global Logistics Properties, a global leader in industrial logistics real estate; a new energy production and logistics base created by State-run Xinxing Cathay International Group, occupying 1,800 mu (120 hectares); and a cold chain logistics park integrating storage, processing, sorting, delivery and settlement for frozen products.

E-commerce plays a supportive role in driving the service industry as well. The Jiangsu Chemical Exchange launched an e-commerce platform for chemicals in April 2014, which allows customers to get access to product information and place orders via the Internet. As of October, the platform had 653 registered companies generating 74.5 billion yuan in trade volume.

In terms of e-commerce logistics, Jiangsu Wurun United Shipping Internet Co has pioneered the Internet of Things (IOT) technology on portage service, becoming China's first fourth-party logistics solution provider.