City approves plan to improve core competitiveness
Shanghai will need to develop in five core areas — economy, finance, trade, shipping, and scientific and technological innovation — in the next five years to improve its attraction, creativity and competitiveness. Li Qiang Shanghai’s Party secretary
Shanghai last month approved an ambitious “future and global-oriented” plan to become a city of global excellence and a modern international metropolis with world influence.
The Shanghai Committee of the Communist Party of China said the city must improve its capacity and core competitiveness as it takes on the tasks entrusted by the central government, including enhancing its development as global centers for economy, finance, trade, shipping and innovation, serving the Belt and Road Initiative, promoting integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region, deepening free trade zone reforms, and carrying out further reform and opening-up.
Li Qiang, the city’s Party secretary, emphasized at the fourth plenary session of the 11th CPC Shanghai Committee that Shanghai will need to develop in five core areas — economy, finance, trade, shipping, and scientific and technological innovation — in the next five years to improve its attraction, creativity and competitiveness.
By 2035, Shanghai should have developed itself into “a city of global excellence that matches China’s comprehensive strength and international status, an admirable innovative, cultural and ecological city, a Socialist modern international metropolis with global influence, and a leading city in a world-class metropolis cluster.”
To enhance the city’s capacity and core competitiveness, the city will need to make new breakthroughs in core functions as a global center of economy, finance, trade, shipping and innovation.
In the economic area, it will seek high-quality development and promote economic size and efficiency by improving its economic density and input-output rate, according to the committee.
Shanghai will accelerate establishment of an industrial system to develop the economy, scientific and technological innovation, modern financing, and human resources industries.
It will focus on the modern services, advanced manufacturing and strategic emerging industries, and develop intelligence-intensive industries to reduce simple and repetitive labor and promote unmanned models.
In finance, the key task is to enhance Shanghai’s capability in allocating global finance resources. It will also quicken the opening of finance market for participation of overseas investors and encourage diversified cooperation between the domestic and overseas markets.
International and Chinese financial institutions will be wooed to set up headquarters in Shanghai. The city also intends to create several important asset-management agencies to set up a global center.
To improve its function as an international trade center, it will develop high-level “headquarters economy” by encouraging headquarters of multinational companies to expand their function and capacity.
As an international shipping center, the city will focus on highend services to promote Shanghai’s shipping brand. It will attract famous shipping service providers and international shipping organizations, carry out innovation in system, business model and technology, and develop shipping finance to promote its capacity in relocating shipping resources.
It will also improve its capacity as an aviation hub, expand the coverage of its airline network and promote the construction of an airport cluster in the Yangtze River Delta.
It will promote the development of cruise industry and build an international cruise home port.
To build itself as an international center for science and technology innovation, it should focus on leading-edge researches and strive to be a global source of new academic thoughts, new scientific findings, new technological inventions and new development trends. It will actively promote science research programs.
The city will also focus on eight other areas — mechanism innovation, opening-up, branding, innovation and entrepreneurship, global network, development platform, talent aggregation and quality life.