Abstract: Abstract: The FTZ program has become vital to economic policy goals of boosting exports, attracting foreign investment, and creating well-paying and sustainable private jobs. As an important national strategy for entirely promoting the reform and open process in China, there have been major pilot projects in Shanghai, Guangdong, Tianjin, Fujian to be the experimental free trade zones. The study is aiming to enlighten our existing practice of free trade zones by using experience of America. Firstly，the paper reviews the relative concepts and nature of free trade zones and studies three hard-core factors of wisely making locational decision about free trade zones. Then it analyses characteristics of the free trade zones development in America, focusing on their location categories, industrial choices and regulatory modes. The three main findings include: (1) strategic location categories covering airports, harbors and hubs of land-transport;（2）an effective regulatory mode consisting of general purpose zones and subzones, two-level administrative institution and matrix connection system；（3）basic features manifesting large numbers, widely distribution, and various industries.

摘要： 自由贸易区对促进出口、吸引投资、增加就业等国家经济目标实现具有至关重要作用。作为我国全面深化改革和对外开放的战略部署，近期中国自由贸易试验区率先在上海、广东、天津和福建展开试点。本文以自由贸易区的概念内涵界定、三大核心区位因素分析为基础，重点从区位类型、产业选择和管理模式等方面，解析美国自由贸易区的发展实践，以期对上海及国内其他自由贸易试验区建设提供有益借鉴。本研究认为，美国自由贸易区发展实践特点主要包括三方面：（1）涵盖了“临空型、临港型和陆路枢纽型”的战略区位类型；（2）形成了“数量众多、分布广泛和产业多样”的总体发展特征；（3）建立了“主-辅区兼顾、双层管理机构及矩阵联络制”构成的高效管理模式。