Shanghai will sign an agreement Wednesday to boost cultural exchanges and business with foreign countries through a platform which provides preferential policies to companies, officials said Tuesday.

The deal will allow six additional cultural companies to operate on the Shanghai International Cultural Service and Trade Platform, which now has 61 firms. The agreement will be endorsed during the 3rd China Trade in Services Congress to be held in Beijing from today to Friday.

The platform, established at the Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone in September 2008, provides various services for domestic and foreign cultural enterprises. The services the platform supports include trading in cultural products as well as bonded exhibitions of cultural products and leasing of equipment to make movies without having to pay taxes.

"The platform is established to boost the growth of China's emerging cultural business by saving costs," said Ren Yibiao, director of the platform.

Cultural firms can save costs because they don't have to pay deposit to the customs if they exhibit expensive cultural or artistic products within the bonded zone through the platform. New companies to the platform can get subsidies for two years from the city.