Shanghai seeks global investment with US$74.9 billion projects signed at promotion conference
Shanghai has launched new global investment partnership programs, while it is to open 14 new industrial parks and will leverage its “five new cities” development strategy to attract investment and boost innovation, city government officials said at a conference on Wednesday.
Officials and business leaders witnessed the signing of 216 investment projects valued at 490 billion yuan (US$74.9 billion) during the Shanghai Global Investment Promotion Conference, which was held in the city for the first time.
Shanghai continues to increase its efforts to attract investment and strive to promote high-quality economic development, city leaders attending the conference said. They included Party Secretary Li Qiang and Mayor Gong Zheng.
Li Qiang (center), Shanghai's Party secretary, was among the officials who attended the conference.
The first batch of business leaders and industrial associations with global influence have been selected to partner with Shanghai in its plan to become one of the world’s top investment destinations.
Members of the Shanghai Global Investment Partnership Program are expected to lead in connecting top projects, industrial growth blueprints and professionals with the city.
“They will become brand ambassadors of Shanghai in investment attraction, and they will bring here the best investors and the best resources,” Gong said
Four corporate executives — Michael Diekmann of Allianz SE, Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone, Zhang Lei of Hillhouse Capital and Shen Nanpeng of Sequoia Capital — are Shanghai Global Investment Partners 2021.
Business leaders listen to a speaker during the conference.
They have already brought investment to Shanghai. For example, Sequoia Capital invested 18.5 billion yuan in the city last year.
Six industrial entities in the program are SEMI for electronics manufacturing and design supply chain, China Association for Public Companies, China-Europe Association for Technical and Economic Cooperation, PwC, CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield.
SEMI, which held the country’s top semiconductor fair last month, helps Chinese semiconductor industry development and boosts international cooperation, it said on Wednesday.
City leaders witness the signing of projects valued at 490 billion yuan.
The 216 projects signed on Wednesday cover three strategic industries for the city’s digital transformation — integrated circuits, artificial intelligence and bio-medicine.
They include a new single-dose COVID-19 vaccine production facility, Bilibili’s new headquarters, an electronics materials park to support the domestic chip industry, a 5G valley with various industrial applications and an smart driving AI chip development project.
Shanghai is also to open 14 new industrial parks, covering chip design, advanced materials, data harbor, robots and aerospace, making the city home to a total of 40 parks.
For digital economy development, the city is now home to giants such as Pinduoduo, Red and HelloBike, leading in some vertical Internet spaces such as third-party payment and eSports. With an improved business environment and policy support, it has become the regional headquarters for giants such as Bilibili, Meituan and ByteDance. Huawei and NetEase have invested heavily in Shanghai recently — 7 billion yuan and 5 billion yuan respectively — according to the Shanghai Commission of Economy and Informatization.
Shanghai will continue to relax entry thresholds to boost the digital economy, mainly covering elderly services, public health care, and education, said Qiu Wei, head of the commission’s software and information service division.
Many people attended the conference online.
Each of the "five new cities" will build its own brand leveraging their unique strengths, officials told the conference.
Jiading, positioned as an international automobile smart city, will focus on key industries covering intelligent auto manufacturing, health and medical, as well as intelligent sensors.
Qingpu, aiming to become a digital hub in the Yangtze River Delta region, will beef up construction of a number of digital economy-related platforms including the Beidou West Hongqiao Base, Shixi Software Information Park and Huawei Research and Development Center.
Songjiang will focus keen on technological and systematic innovations as it moves toward its goal to become a place where urban life and industrial development are well integrated.
Fengxian, already the Oriental Beauty Valley, will keep building its beauty and health industry clusters that cover the whole chain from research and development, manufacturing, to exhibition and trade.
Nanhui will further sharpen its competitive edge in digitalization and intelligent manufacturing, with high-tech industries being its main focus.
