Pudong to join elite GDP club
A bird’s-eye view of the high-rise buildings along the Pudong side of the Huangpu River that cuts through Shanghai
Pudong has set an ambitious goal of 2018 to join the 1 trillion yuan (US$158 billion) GDP club. The overall fiscal revenue of the new area is set to reach 400 billion yuan this year.
Total fixed asset investment is expected to hit 200 billion yuan during the same period, said Hang Yingwei, director of the Pudong New Area.
Additionally, Pudong eyes more than 2 trillion yuan of foreign trade this year. Its total retail sales of consumer goods are forecast to exceed 4 trillion yuan in 2018, Hang said.
Hang, who is also deputy secretary of the Shanghai government, said that the main task for Pudong this year is to become a major site for the development of “service in Shanghai,” “made in Shanghai,” “shopping in Shanghai” and “culture of Shanghai.”
Hang also said 2018 is the first year to carry forward the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening-up.
It is also a crucial year to carry forward the 13th Five-Year Plan and secure a decisive victory in building a prosperous society allround, said Hang.
It is Pudong’s role to become a benchmark of China’s reform and opening-up in the new era, Hang emphasized.
Pudong will adopt the highest international standards to develop the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone and create a Science and Technology Innovation Center this year.
Pudong will enhance the innovation and competitiveness of its economic development, focus on urban-rural integration and development and build more beautiful homes and villages.
People in Pudong will be more fulfilled and happier while the urban management and construction will be improved. The well-maintained and constantly improved ecological environment will let Pudong’s sky become bluer, its land greener and its water purer.
Meanwhile, the Pudong government is working on a new mission and will start a new process in the new era, said Hang. It will better serve the people with streamlined administration, social governance innovation, enhanced credibility and enforcement.
The State Council, or China’s Cabinet, has given its go-ahead to deepen a pilot reform in Pudong that aims to streamline administrative approvals and delegate power, improve government services and push forward reforms in various areas.
A resident jogs on the riverside of Huangpu River in Pudong. The new area government vows to avail happier life for people with greener land, bluer sky and purer water.
The pilot reforms will cut or simplify 47 approval items, after all of China’s free trade zones have separated operation permits from business licenses, and ease regulations on 116 businesses requiring approvals, according to a statement released by the State Council.
The 47 approval items cover 10 fields, including medical care, investment, construction and transportation as well as the supervision of quality inspections.
The program also includes reforms affecting public transport, farm produce, medical instruments, healthcare services and quality supervision.
The pilot reform program in Pudong will run for a year before expanding to the rest of Shanghai as well as to other regions.
Looking back over the past year, Pudong had completed all the goals set amid the joint efforts throughout the new area. Its economy maintained steady growth last year. The regional gross domestic product reached 950 billion yuan, up 8.5 percent from a year earlier.
Local industrial enterprises with an annual turnover of over 20 million yuan reported a gross output value of 1 trillion yuan last year. The added value of the secondary and tertiary industries accounted for 25 percent and 75 percent of Pudong’s GDP respectively last year amid continuous optimization of economic structure. More than 50,000 startups have registered in the Shanghai FTZ and the foreign investment attracted by the FTZ accounted for 90 percent of the total amount throughout the new area. By the end of last year, Pudong had 227 foreign-funded R&D centers.
Pudong authorities chipped in more than 56 billion yuan last year to improve people’s livelihoods. The per capita disposable income of Pudong residents is expected to exceed 60,000 yuan this year, up 8.9 percent from a year earlier.
