Jing'an plans China's first '100-billion-yuan business district'

Jing'an District announced at the Forbes Jing'an Nanjing Road W. forum on Wednesday that through three years of effort, the downtown district aims to achieve a retail sales total exceeding 100 billion yuan (US$14.66 billion) on Nanjing Road W. by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), becoming the first "100-billion-yuan business district" in Shanghai and even in China as a whole.

The Nanjing Road W. business district refers to a strip-shaped block with Nanjing Road W. as the main axis, stretching from Chengdu Road N. in the east to Zhenning Road in the west, from Weihai Road-Yan'an Road in the south to Beijing Road W. -Yuyuan Road in the north, covering an area of 1.8 square kilometers. It is an important part of the internationally renowned consumption aggregation area planned in Shanghai.

In 2022, the retail sales total of Nanjing Road W. is estimated to be around 80 billion yuan. The planning of the "100-billion-yuan business district" means it needs to achieve no less than 8 percent of annual growth.

"There is pressure, but we also have confidence," said Shen Hong, director of the Jing'an District Commerce Commission.

In the next three years, the Nanjing Road W. business district will focus on the brand economy and digital consumption.

The implementation plan encourages high-quality development of the "first-store economy." The plan proposes to support the establishment of shopping malls and business districts, headquarters enterprises, live streaming e-commerce, cross-border transactions, and other platforms, and to connect the online and offline digital operating systems.

Jing'an District will encourage and support more brand enterprises to establish functional digital economy headquarters, R&D centers, and open innovation platforms, and support enterprises to create "headquarters + platform" models, making Nanjing Road W. business district a digital innovation street.