Pudong still the vanguard for reform and opening-up

President Xi Jinping attended a grand gathering to celebrate the 30 th anniversary of the development and opening-up of Shanghai’s Pudong New Area on Thursday. In his speech, President Xi said that the significance of Pudong’s development lies in being a role model, its trailblazing spirit and its pioneering innovations.

What this area has achieved offers a clear perspective on how opening-up can be promoted by institutional innovation and how specific reform policies can stimulate innovation in technologies and economic development.

Pudong’s GDP was 1.27 trillion yuan ($192.01 billion) in 2019, about 211 fold that of 1990. With an area of 1,210 square kilometers, just one-8,000th of the country’s total area, Pudong accounted for one-80th of the country’s GDP in 2019 and one-15th of the country’s total trade value. And over the past three decades, the flow of foreign capital into the area has been $102.95 billion. As of Nov 1, there were 36,200 overseas companies with a presence in Pudong from 170 countries and regions and it was home to the regional headquarters of 350 multinationals.

Pudong is also home to a cluster of high-technology companies in its Zhangjiang High-tech Park. The production of integrated circuits in the park accounts for 16.1 percent of the country’s total, and that of new medicines about 15 percent of the country’s total. It is also one of the key locations for the country’s artificial intelligence technology industry.

What Pudong has achieved can be attributed to its pioneering spirit. Institutional reforms have made it easier and faster for companies to register and complete all the necessary procedural transactions before setting up their operations in the area. And its good business environment, quality services and ever improving management have made Pudong attractive to talent, capital and technology from all over the world.

Over the past 30 years, Pudong has set an example for the rest of the country to follow. But it should not rest on its laurels, it should continue to pursue reform and opening-up at a higher level so that it can fulfill its mission to be the vanguard for building a modern socialist country.

Pudong’s transformation from farmland to the dynamic metropolitan area it is today is testimony to the success of the reform and opening-up policy of China and a vibrant symbol of the country’s confident march toward the future.

Now, as Xi said, Pudong should show the courage to carry the heaviest load and gnaw the hardest bone to lead reform and opening-up to a higher level.