Shanghai has a trade-free zone. What does that mean?

The free trade zone offers benefits for foreign investment into the trade one. Restrictions on the transfer of money out of China remain the same.

Free Trade Zones means they are not regulated under mainland China company registration laws. As a formed company, you are welcome to trade and transact accordingly per the terms and regulations of the Free Trade Zone. However, Free Trade Zones do not eliminate the currency regulations from mainland China central bank. If you are trying to bypass any currency transaction restriction, I do not believe that would be possible.

The Shanghai Free Trade Zone is to facilitate foreign investment into China and international trading. It's an expanded version of the traditional bonded area. The zone enjoys more flexible rules in welcoming foreign investment and cross-border transactions. For the specific purpose of transferring money from China, the Free Trade Zone has no different policy than the rest of China. There must be a substantial Chinese company with operational history doing investment overseas, generally within its business scope, and formal deal documents are required to be reviewed by the government, such as the investment/acquisition agreement, the due-diligence report, the financial statement of the target, etc. Unfortunately, real estate, hotel, entertainment, sports, etc., are listed as restricted for outbound investment by Chinese companies, meaning that transferring money out of China for making such an investment has become very difficult, if not at all impossible. For such an investment purpose, it is suggested to look for Chinese money already sitting outside of China.