Opening-up has become the chosen phrase to describe contemporary China, and the annual China International Import Expo held in Shanghai has become a platform for high-standard opening-up. As an example of China's opening-up, Shanghai's Pudong New Area has achieved leapfrog development and world-renowned achievements over the past 30 years by promoting opening-up in a multi-level, comprehensive and multi-dimensional manner.

Pudong showed robust economic performance last year with a GDP of 1.54 trillion yuan ($216 billion), a total output value of 1.23 trillion yuan for industries above designated size, a total import and export volume of 2.38 trillion yuan, and total merchandise sales of 5.65 trillion yuan.

At present, the regional headquarters of multinational companies in Pudong account for 47 percent of Shanghai's total. Its actual foreign investment, foreign-funded research and development (R&D) centers, total imports and exports, container throughput, and offshore trade receipts account for 47.5 percent, 51 percent, 60 percent, 90 percent, and more than 90 percent, respectively, in Shanghai.

The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, which successfully concluded in October, drew up a grand blueprint for Chinese-style modernization. As a pioneer area for China's socialist modernization, Pudong will give full play to its role as an influencer to further deepen high-level opening-up and take the lead in showing the world the beautiful prospects of Chinese-style modernization.

Pudong aims to stand at the forefront of reform

In September 2013, Pudong took the lead in building a pilot free trade zone in China. It also launched China's first "free offshore trade" platform to promote the development of offshore trade, established the Shanghai Data Exchange to standardize the safe circulation of data, and rolled out a series of important reform measures such as accelerating the industrialization of new drugs and facilitating the entry of biomedical articles for R&D purposes throughout the country.

In the past 10 years, Pudong has attracted nearly $60 billion in foreign capital, and more than 55,000 new enterprises have been established in the area, with new industries, new types of businesses and new business models continuing to emerge in the area.

At present, a comprehensive reform pilot program is being promoted in Pudong, and China plans to give Pudong reform autonomy in the form of a list of authorizations for comprehensive matters. Major functional platforms such as the national bulk commodity warehouse receipt registration center and the "Silk Road E-commerce" cooperation pilot zone are expected to be built in the area and a series of institutional opening-up measures have been drafted to be implemented to allow more domestic and foreign enterprises to develop and grow in Pudong.

Pudong aims to become a magnet for sci-tech innovation

Pudong is the core area of Shanghai's international science and technology innovation center. It has been regarding science and technology as its primary productive force, talent as its primary resource, and innovation as its primary driver of growth, and has been striving to build an international-oriented, open and integrated scientific and technologically innovative environment.

Pudong is actively building a world-class large-scale scientific infrastructure cluster. There are 10 national large-scale scientific facilities that have been built or currently under construction. Domestic and foreign scientists and scientific and technological innovation enterprises have achieved many new scientific discoveries and major industrial achievements by leveraging resources such as the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility.

Pudong has been facilitating foreign-funded R&D centers to utilize Pudong's strength in allocating global resources for innovation. Relying on abundant talent resources and industrial innovation scenarios, Pudong is accelerating integration into the global scientific and technological innovation network and the transformation into a global R&D center. In particular, it is promoting the Group Open Innovation Center Plan, which supports 47 big enterprises such as Roche, IBM and GE to set up innovation centers in Pudong in order to build an innovation network that integrates and shares with large, medium and small-sized enterprises.

Pudong is promoting its three leading industries to forge ahead and grow into world-class industrial clusters. Among them, the value of its integrated circuit industry has reached nearly 190 billion yuan, accounting for about 70 percent of the city. The value of its biomedical industry has reached 320 billion yuan, accounting for about 40 percent of the city's total, and has produced 15 percent of the original innovative drugs and 10 percent of the medical devices in the country. The value of its artificial intelligence industry has reached more than 130 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of nearly 30 percent in the past three years.

Pudong also intends to actively make plans for emerging industries such as the digital economy and the metaverse.

Pudong aims to become a model for urban functions 

Pudong has formed a number of featured cities with integrated urban-industrial development, including Lujiazui Financial City, Zhangjiang Science City, Jinqiao Intelligent Manufacturing City, Resort Tourism City and Lin-gang Future City.

Relying on these key areas, Pudong will strengthen its ability to allocate global resources, generate scientific and technological innovation, lead high-end industries, and serve as an open hub, aiming to build itself into a more open and attractive modern urban area.

In the next three years, more market entities are expected to be established in Pudong, including 100 licensed financial institutions, 100 regional headquarters of multinational companies, and 100 open innovation centers of big enterprises.

In terms of urban public services, Pudong plans to utilize 15-minute neighborhood circles and build 160 kilometers of new metro lines, and has added new urban cultural landmarks such as the Shanghai Grand Opera House and the East Branch of the Shanghai Museum. In addition, more than 10 square kilometers of new green space will be added and the number of urban parks is expected to reach 200.

Pudong aims to become the first choice for foreign investors

Pudong has been striving to foster an enabling business environment that is based on market principles, the legal system and international standards, and provide the best services for global enterprises that invest and develop in Pudong.

Committed to sound legal assurance, 13 Pudong New Area regulations have been issued in areas such as market access, intellectual property rights protection, and cosmetics management, which has effectively stimulated market vitality and promoted the development of emerging industries. In the future, Pudong plans to closely follow the needs of enterprises, roll forward legislative projects, and provide a stable and predictable investment environment for various market entities.

Committed to smart government services, Pudong's Government Online-Offline platform makes it as convenient for enterprises and individuals to handle government-related matters as online shopping through new modes such as the AI-assisted review and approval system, dedicated corporate webpages, and online assistance. Pudong also built a one-stop city management system and created a "City Brain" to ensure convenient, efficient, safe and orderly management. 

Committed to convenient talent services, Pudong is building a pioneer area for international talent development, and plans to launch more innovative measures in the fields of visas and work, permanent residence and residence permits to create a first-class innovation and entrepreneurship environment for global talents to settle in Pudong and display their talents.