Shanghai unveils details of ambitious commerce plans for 2023

Shanghai is further developing as an international center for both trade and consumption, trying to realize effective quality improvement and reasonable scale expansion of the economy.

This aim for 2023, which marks the first year of fully implementing the latest guiding principles of both the national and the municipal Party congresses, is to facilitate Shanghai's transformation into a modern socialist international metropolis with global influence.

Emphasis of Shanghai's commerce work will be mainly on four aspects, according to Shen Weihua, deputy director of the city's commission of commerce.

• To implement major national strategic tasks and expand openness;
• To expand domestic demand in order to restore and boost consumption;
• To optimize the structure of foreign trade and cultivate new momentum;
• To stabilize the stock and expand the growth of foreign investment.

Shen was speaking at the annual Briefing on Shanghai's Commerce and Investment.

As this year is the 10th anniversary of the construction of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone, the commission will promote major national strategic tasks, relying on key areas, including the Pudong Pioneering Zone, the FTZ and the Lingang New Area, and the Hongqiao International Open Hub, to accelerate the development of new reforms, openness and innovation on commerce.

It will also support the Hongqiao International Central Business District to build a new platform for trade, and organize the sixth China International Import Expo well.

Foster a top-notch business environment

Meanwhile, special measures will be taken on optimizing consumption-supply structure and upgrading trade on goods, to push ahead construction of an international consumption center city and to optimize the business environment, especially for cross-border trade.

The commission pledged to continue to foster a top-notch business environment which is market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized, and constantly stabilize foreign businesses' expectations for growth and confidence for investing in Shanghai.

Looking back on 2022, Shanghai, after taking a big coronavirus hit, made every effort to promote economic recovery and revitalization and successfully achieved the tasks and targets for social and economic development, Shanghai Vice Mayor Hua Yuan noted.

The city's economy steadily rebounded last year, with the total economic output maintaining first place among national economic center cities.

Employment and prices were generally stable, industrial production and the consumer markets are recovering steadily, while foreign trade and foreign investment reached a record high, showing that Shanghai is still one of the most popular investment destinations for foreign investors.

The consolidation of the city's core functions has continued. Its financial market transactions totaled nearly 300 trillion yuan (US$43.1 trillion), the container throughput of Shanghai port exceeded 47.3 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), the total import and export volume of the port was 10.4 trillion yuan, and the scale of service import and export continued to rank first among all provinces and cities in China.

Hua pledged that Shanghai will stick to high-level opening-up, high-quality development, innovation-driven growth, and optimization of services.