Putuo delivers major work objectives on 2018's round of reform and opening-up
PUTUO District in Shanghai’s northwest downtown has completed the objectives and tasks set for 2018 with high-quality development, livelihood and urban management, said Zhou Minhao, director of Putuo.
When reviewing the major work undertaken last year in the government work report, Zhou pointed out Putuo’s regional economy remained stable and performed better than expectations. The total fiscal revenue was 35.8 billion yuan (US$5.26 billion), a 6.64 percent increase on 2017. Its district-level revenue has increased by 5.5 percent to 11.4 billion yuan.
The proportion of modern service industry in district-level tax revenue increased by 4.72 percentage points over the previous year. The proportion of real estate business in the district’s revenue has dropped by 4.76 percent.
It was the first time that the contribution of a modern service industry has surpassed the real estate to Putuo’s regional economy, Zhou told legislators and political advisors in the report.
Putuo has actively completed the new round of reform and opening-up objectives of the city. The district hosted the Yangtze Delta Industry Innovation Summit in November and jointly launched the Yangtze River Delta Industry Innovation League with seven neighboring cities in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces.
It has implemented 18 measures among the city government’s 100 newly released measures to expand its opening-up. The district also released 12 guidelines and reduced the institutional trade costs to support the healthy development of a private economy.
‘Shanghai brands’
Putuo has also focused on its differentiated development to promote the “Shanghai brands” in the service, manufacturing, shopping and cultural sectors. A three-year plan has been made to highlight the city’s brands along with 10 projects to improve the performance and reputation of Putuo.
Intelligent software, research and development service and scientific finance have become key industries of Putuo and got involved in the city’s industrial map. A number of new commercial landmarks have been promoted, including the Changfeng urban resort, Changshou Bay and the Global Harbor Mall, which has been listed as one of the 10 gathering sites for the debut of global products.
By hosting the Internet Summit of the 2018 Shanghai International Film & TV Festival and 2018 China Voice Conference, Putuo has created a cultural brand of the “18 Bays of Suzhou Creek” for the development of Internet film and audio industries.
Scientific innovation remains a focus of Putuo. The former site of the prestigious Shanghai Hero Pen factory is set to be redeveloped into the first phase of China-Israel (Shanghai) Innovation Harbor for Chinese and Israeli high-tech companies. The district has also launched a Sino-Israel Innovation Fund to mainly support new startups.
The Wuning Innovation Development Axis, along Wuning Road, a major thoroughfare link between Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta region, is expected to drive the transformation and development of the whole district. A demonstration district on industrial cyber security is being developed. Putuo has also released Talent cards to the first batch of 103 high-end specialists with better services.
Business environment
Credit to an optimized business environment in Putuo, four additional office buildings have generated over 100 million yuan in taxes. The average tax revenue from Putuo office buildings has increase by 747 yuan on year to 2,601 yuan per square meter per year in 2018.
The construction and development on key projects are in full swing across Putuo with improved planning, construction, management and service standards. Construction has started on the Taopu Smart City, a landmark high-tech business district. The initial phase of Shanghai’s largest downtown public greenbelt Taopu Central Greenbelt has opened. It will cover a total of 500,000 square meters upon its completion in 2020.
The Zhenru subcenter is being developed on the historic town founded in Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368) to become a “public activity center” serving the Yangtze Delta region. It will bring in high-end cultural and entertainment facilities, sports centers, medical services and international education.
A large swathe of projects are being constructed for the Shanghai scientific finance industry cluster and the Changshou business district. Construction has started for the new branch of Shanghai Children’s Library in the Changfeng Park. Renovations have been launched on the Changshou Bay, Changhua Road and M50 art hub, as well as the former Caojiadu Flower Market, which has been planned into an electronic sports center.
The Putuo government has conducted delicate urban management methods to further improve the traffic and environment of the region. A group of key roads have been expanded or renovated to improve the traffic. The overhead cables have been buried underground on nine roads.
‘City Brain’
As a highlight, one of the city’s first “City Brain” urban management systems have been launched in Putuo that can automatically generate alerts when danger is spotted. Internet of Things devices have been put in place across the district for every aspect of urban management from public security to market supervision and sanitation.
The district has also demolished 991,400 square meters of illegal structures. Jeshing furniture market, the former largest furniture market in northwest Shanghai, has been shut down after long-standing complaints about safety and illegal construction.
A new round of environmental protection campaigns have been carried out to curb the water and air pollution. The proportion of polluted waterways has been reduced to 15 percent. Some 252,200 square meters of greenbelts and 7.5 kilometers of greenways have been newly built.
Garbage sorting has been widely promoted to cover 62,500 households. The green account has been introduced to 93,300 households with 135 recycling sites.
The Putuo government has also been taking the residents’ livelihoods as its top priority, district director Zhou said. The government has helped 524 entrepreneurs to open new startup businesses and find jobs for 442 unemployed people. A trial operation on the long-term nursing insurance has served 1.58 million people. The district has also built 1,044 additional beds for the care of seniors. The structure of two new seniors’ homes has been completed.
Renovations on old residential buildings have been accelerating. Some 619,000 square meters of old communities have been repaired and revamped. More affordable low-rent houses have been built with enhanced supervision on the real estate and house renting market.
Improved life
Education, health care and cultural life have also been improved for Putuo residents. All the public kindergartens in Putuo have become the city-level excellent institutes. Some 411,100 residents, or more than a third of the district’s total population, have signed with general practitioners for more convenient medical services. Ten new community medical centers have been built.
The district has built 30 walking paths and 18 exercise sites, while renewing three public ball game courts to enrich the cultural and sports activities of the public. The sports facilities at 63 public elementary and middle schools in Putuo, accounting for 94 percent of the total, have opened to public.
A number of popular events have been hosted in Putuo such as the art festival and international dragon boat race on Suzhou Creek, a bridge game tournament and the 10km elite running race. The new district archive has also been opened, featuring a national digital archive center.
Due to deepening innovation on the social governance, the urban operation of Putuo has been safe and in order in 2018. The government has released a community development and planning guideline and 50 intelligent wet markets have been established. A cloud community management system has made it more convenient for the residents.
