Tourists and the buildings in Lujiazui, the financial district in Shanghai, are reflected in a puddle left on the street in Shanghai on July 17, 2023 after scattered showers, presenting the beauty of a “land of the sky.” Photo: VCG

Since its launch three years ago, Shanghai's Hongqiao International Open Hub has achieved encouraging results in terms of building a hub port with global connectivity and serving as a new engine for the integration of the Yangtze River Delta, local officials said on Saturday.

Following the approval of the Overall Program for the Construction of the Hongqiao International Open Hub in 2021, the National Development and Reform Commission in July 2023 issued the Policy Measures to Support the Further Enhancement of Hongqiao International Open Hub, demonstrating the importance the central government attaches to the development of the hub.

Among the 24 measures issued to support the further enhancement of Shanghai's Hongqiao International Open Hub, 22 involve direct support for Shanghai. Under the guidance and support of the relevant state ministries, the Shanghai municipal government quickly set up working groups to push forward with the implementation. As of today, 15 of the 22 measures have been implemented, with the accomplishment rate at nearly 70 percent, Chen Shiyan, deputy director of the Shanghai Development and Reform Commission, said at a press conference on Saturday.

The past three years saw the hub achieve substantial development. For instance, the GDP of the 7,000-square-kilometer area grew from 2.3 trillion yuan ($323 billion) in 2020 to 2.8 trillion yuan in 2023, with an economic density at 400 million yuan per square kilometer, 4.7 times the average level for the Yangtze River Delta.

Specifically, as the core of the open hub, the Hongqiao Central Business District has accelerated the developing of the four major functions of the CBD, namely "big commerce," "big exhibition," "big transportation," and "big sci-tech innovation." Statistics showed that the DBC's tax revenue increased by more than 20 percent annually over the past three years, reaching 47.33 billion yuan in 2023, up 52.8 percent year-on-year. It has also attracted a total of 127 regional headquarters of multinationals, foreign-funded research and development centers, trading headquarters, and headquarters of private companies, along with more than 500 headquarter-type companies, according to official data.

When it comes to promoting the economic integration of the Yangtze River Delta, the CBD has launched several platforms, such as the Hongqiao Overseas Development Service Center, and the RCEP Enterprise Service and Advisory Station, aimed at building an international trade platform. It has a total of 37 international trade and investment promotion agencies, 84 legal service agencies and 209 human resources service agencies, to better serve companies with global aspirations.

Global Times