The Yangtze River Delta in East ­China will benefit significantly from the launch of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ), not only in the financial sector but also the real economy, the Xinhua News Agency reported Saturday.

"Once global capital resources flood into the FTZ, we will enjoy big business opportunities," Fu Qiang, deputy director of the financial office in Nanhu district of Jiaxing, a city in East ­China's Zhejiang Province that is close to Shanghai, told Xinhua.

Nanhu district is preparing to build a commercial zone with a total area of 2.04 square kilometers over the next five years, which is expected to become home to around 130 business institutions.

"It will be easier for companies in the real economy to get access to financing," Cai Chengzhi, an assistant in the general manager's office at Infovision Optoelectronics (Kunshan) Co, was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

Cai noted that financing costs are too high at the moment.

Financial reform is one of the major areas that the Shanghai FTZ will promote. Yuan convertibility under the capital account and interest rate liberalization will be allowed, according to details about the plan for the trade zone released Friday.

"The FTZ will set up a model for financial reforms in the Yangtze River Delta," Liu Zhibiao, director of the Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, told Xinhua.