Foreign business leaders weigh in on city's development plans

Foreign enterprises and business leaders in Shanghai have given advice on the city's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) at a CPPCC Shanghai Committee panel discussion, calling for attention to issues like advanced manufacturing, the real economy, innovative R&D center construction, intellectual property protection, market access and talent.

Ioana Kraft, general manager of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China Shanghai Committee, mentioned in her speech that Shanghai could do more to improve its intellectual property protection and provide more financial support for foreign companies to bring their decades of science and technology experience to the city.

She suggested that policies like tax benefits help foreign companies, which own international intellectual property, have better participation in the city's development as an innovation center.

Meanwhile, she believes that the Lingang New Area needs reform in manufacturing industries to upgrade the city's competitiveness.

Marshall Strabala, partner & chief architect at Strabala+, gave a detailed plan on connecting the city's Metro stations, greenbelts and the two banks of the Huangpu River with a two-loop AirTrain system, Skytrains and bridges for pedestrians above the river.

He said that most of the Metro lines now go to the city center and an AirTrain route connecting stations in the outer part of Shanghai can serve those with no need to go to downtown areas. Another route of the "Shanghai Loop" project could be set along the Huangpu River for city's inner part. 

Two other projects proposed by his team involve pedestrian bridges via which people can walk or cycle across the Huangpu River along with vehicles and a tourist attraction called Shanghai Eye, a counterpart to London Eye or Eiffel Tower.

"It's an idea about megacities in China. Successful cities plan the MCBDs (multiple connected business districts) around transportation. We have to look for innovative ways to create transportation networks that connect these business districts," Strabala told Shanghai Daily.