Chinese President Xi Jinping paid an unexpected first-time visit to the Shanghai Free Trade Zone on May 23. He is the highest-level official to visit the Free Trade Zone since its launch last October. Xi Jinping was accompanied by Shanghai Party Secretary Han Zheng and Mayor Yang Xiong.

Xi Jinping was in Shanghai this last week for the CICA regional security summit where he met Russian President Vladimir Putin and signed a landmark gas deal worth US$400 billion.

87-year old former Chinese President Jiang Zemin made a rare public appearance on May 22 in Shanghai when he met Russian President Putin who was in China to attend the 'Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia' (CICA).

Interestingly, 74-year old Zeng Qinghong, former Politburo member and aide of Jiang Zemin, was also seen the same week visiting the Shanghai Museum. He was accompanied by Jiang Zemin's son, Jiang Mianheng,Shanghai Municipality Party Secretary Han Zheng.