Deals for 322 major projects worth US$84b inked in Shanghai

Agreements on a batch of 322 major industrial projects, with a total investment of 565.8 billion yuan (US$84.3 billion), were signed in Shanghai on Thursday.

Both the number and the total investment amount of the new projects were higher than a year earlier (216 projects with investment of 489.8 billion yuan), reflecting Shanghai's confidence and determination to win the battle for economic recovery and revitalization.

The city's three strategic pillars – integrated circuits, biomedicine, and artificial intelligence – boast 90 projects, with a combined investment of 204.9 billion yuan.

Among these were 28 IC projects, such as the 800-million yuan investment plan of Xiaohua Semiconductor focusing on independent innovation of System on Chip and interface technology in equipment intelligent management.

Forty-two projects were in the biomedicine sector. For instance, Ascentage Pharma proposed an investment of 3 billion yuan to establish two major centers for marketing and clinical medicine, and Junshi Biosciences plans to invest 2.7 billion yuan for the construction of an industrial base on innovative drugs.

There were also 20 AI projects, including a 4-billion yuan investment by SenseTime to build the second phase of an AI computing center.

Meanwhile, another 247 projects were in six key areas, namely electronic information, life and health, automotive, high-end equipment, advanced materials, and fashion consumer goods, with investment tallying 393.5 billion yuan.

Apart from focusing on the new industrial system, including the three strategic pillars and six key industries, the agreements also covered a number of projects on modern service industries, such as finance, producer services and life services.

All these contracts were inked during the annual Shanghai Global Investment Promotion Conference.

"These projects, with a high technological level, strong competitive advantages and broad development prospects, will inject strong momentum into Shanghai's economic development," Zhang Hongtao, chief engineer of the Shanghai Commission of Economy and Informatization, said.

Also at the conference, 48 projects to be put into construction were announced worth a total 162.7 billion yuan, covering areas such as life and health, new materials, new energy, and high-end equipment. Projects under the three strategic pillars accounted for about half the total.

"These projects, with high technological level, strong competitive advantages and broad development prospects, will inject strong momentum into Shanghai's economic development in the next stage," said Zhang Hongtao, chief engineer of Shanghai Commission of Economy and Informatization.