Shanghai takes best practice in nighttime economy

Shanghai has come out on top in the comprehensive nighttime economy index among all cities in China.

The index, compiled by Yicai Media, is based on six major dimensions, namely the activity of nighttime traveling, late movies, night buses, lights, the number of bars, and emerging performance spaces such as live houses and playhouses.

Shanghai performed well in all the six dimensions, especially leading the country in night lights, night buses and emerging performance spaces. It was also among the top three cities in the other three aspects.

The city ranked first in the country in terms of overall development of the nighttime economy, thanks to its balanced performance in the six indicators, followed by Shenzhen, Beijing and Chengdu.

Yang Yudong, editor-in-chief of Shanghai Yicai Media Group, pointed out two major development trends of Shanghai's nighttime industry – the booming market of shows and performances, and the combination of various business forms of commerce, tourism, cultural, sports and exhibition industries.

For instance, Shanghai leads the country in the number of theaters, museums, cultural art centers and performance spaces.

Emerging performance spaces such as live houses and stand-up comedy clubs are developing rapidly in the city, with a significant increase in the proportion of such venues between 2020 and 2021. The number of such venues rose from around 50 to 144, already accounting for a third of all performance spaces.

The 2021 statistics showed that the size of the group of people traveling in the night was about 3.38 million in Shanghai, much higher than that of other first-tier cities.

The passenger flow in the city's popular business districts from 7pm to 6am the next day accounts for about 40 percent of the whole-day traffic, which was a very high proportion, according to Liu Min, deputy director of the city's commerce commission.

Shanghai boasts excellent conditions for developing the nighttime economy, Liu noted.

Currently, there are nearly 6,000 chain convenience stores, more than 13,000 late-night restaurants that stay open until after midnight, and 506 metro stations that operate until after 10 pm in the city.

During the annual Night Festival this year, which is a major part of the annual shopping festival, Shanghai has built three special pedestrian streets, released 15 landmark nightlife districts, 10 featured areas and 30 spots along the waterfronts for people to enjoy the night life.