Mayor sets out key issues for city's future

Mayor Gong Zheng has clarified the city’s plan on some key issues to bolster high-quality economic development, such as the further opening up of the Pudong New Area and the city’s role in serving the national strategies.

As 2021 marks the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan, the city set its goal to promote high-quality development, ensure high-quality life, and achieve high-efficiency governance over the next five years, Gong said at a press conference after the Shanghai People’s Congress concluded its annual session on Wednesday.

He revealed a target for economic growth this year at above 6 percent, and adherence to ensuring stability on six fronts and security in six areas and keeping the economy running within a reasonable range.

Gong highlighted optimizing the economic development pattern, attaching greater importance to the “five types of economy” that represents the direction and also advantages of Shanghai’s urban development — economy driven by innovation, service, headquarters, openness and flow.

Targeted policies will be tailored to better support and cultivate a number of leading enterprises with great influence, and to build clusters for the five types of economy.

As for the further development of the Pudong New Area, which has been a hot topic since the 30th anniversary of its opening up, Gong pledged to promote higher-level reform and opening up of the area.

He said Shanghai will soon issue a document on comprehensive opinions to push forward a series of innovative and pioneer actions on reform and opening-up.

Greater emphasis will be laid on the special economic function zone and the special comprehensive bonded area, as well as the establishment of an optimized system of legal safeguards.

The city will also construct an international sci-tech innovation center, an international financial center, and an international consumption center with Pudong serving as a core carrier for all three centers.

In terms of the business environment, Shanghai recently formulated the 4.0 version of measures on optimizing the business environment, setting 207 new tasks for reform.

Meanwhile, the China International Import Expo, the first and only national-level exhibition focusing on imports, will remain an important event in Shanghai.

“We will further expand the spillover effect of the expo, and focus on deepening the establishment of ‘four platforms’ respectively for international procurement, investment promotion, cultural exchange and the open cooperation,” Gong said.

The development of the STAR Market on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, another major task for the city, will also be further pushed forward, according to Gong.

The city formed the basic framework of a sci-tech innovation center last year with the aim of developing the core functions of the center in 2021, in which the STAR Market can play an important role.

It will strengthen the development and application of basic research, accelerate the transformation of sci-tech achievements, promote the growth of high-tech industries, aiming to achieve more original breakthroughs, practical applications, and mass production.

Gong pledged to encourage and support the IPOs of more sci-tech innovation enterprises focusing on key and core technologies, with the promotion of a pilot registration system and better regulatory mechanisms.