MNC Communications Club settles in Putuo District
Zhang Yu (left), an official with the Information Office of Shanghai Municipality, Song Shengli (right), deputy director at the Publicity Department of Putuo District, and Zhu Jiajian, head of Shanghai Daily, pose for photo as they jointly unveiled the MNC Communications Club Tongpu Road venue in Putuo District on Friday.
Putuo District has been chosen as the first regular venue for the MNC Communications Club to hold activities.
Thanks to the Tongpu Road venue, members of the club will have more face-to-face opportunities to communicate and learn from each other.
“We warmly welcome the club’s settlement in Putuo and will support its development," said Song Shengli, deputy director at the Publicity Department of Putuo.
Since its establishment in 2014, the MNC Communications Club has attracted more than 230 multinationals in Shanghai to sign up as members, most of them listed on the Global Fortune 500.
The club was co-founded by the Information Office of Shanghai Municipality and Shanghai Daily to broaden the international publicity channel for Shanghai.
Each quarter, the club will hold at least one activity for members to enhance communication. Activities cover policy interpretation, a culture salon, and performing public services.
“Multinational enterprises play a unique role in Shanghai’s publicity work," said Zhang Yu, an official with the Information Office of Shanghai Municipality. "There are more than 700 multinationals headquartered in Shanghai.”
Zhu Jiajian, head of Shanghai Daily, Song Shengli and Zhang Yu jointly unveiled the venue on Friday afternoon. After the unveiling ceremony, a culture salon featuring an interpretation of Shanghai’s latest measures to optimize its business environment was held at the new club venue.
A total of 25 representatives from multinational companies participated in the culture salon.
Wu Jing’an and Peng Hui, two experts from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, gave their interpretations of the Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on Optimizing Business Environment which was officially enforced on April 10, 2020.
“The background for China’s efforts in improving its business environment is that China is changing its development mode, shifting from reliance on rich labor and land resources toward optimization of resources,” Wu said.
He added, China is much less dependent on foreign capital and foreign markets.
In 2018, exports and imports accounted for only 33.9 percent of China’s gross domestic production, compared with 64.2 percent in 2006.
Foreign investment accounted for 0.34 percent in total fixed asset investment in 2017, compared with 11.76 percent in 1996.
“It is helpful for me to learn the latest government policies from these experts. Their explanations made these policies much more clear,” a participant at the event said.
