The Pudong zoning pattern provides a privileged perspective from which to consider how the Chinese state articulates its territory. The Shanghai financial center in Pudong and its development as a zone also allows for an exploration of the conflicts between diverse understandings of ‘expertise’ held by different actors investing in the stock exchange. This analysis also focuses attention on the emergence of a contested space, in which labor subjects negotiate their expertise, and allows for an examination of if and how this expertise clashes with the type of expertise required by the state.