Pudong accelerates efforts building intl consumption hub

Pudong New Area in East China's Shanghai is making determined efforts to unleash domestic consumption potential and improve the consumer experience.

A number of shopping centers in the area have seen surging numbers of customers and sales. Shanghai Florentia Village, the first premium outlet in Pudong that opened in January 2015, received 4.5 million visits and generated 2.7 billion yuan ($415.87 million) in sales in 2020 despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, up 4 percent year-on-year.

The second phase of the shopping village, which has also been built in an Italian style, featuring fountains and skyways with glass roofs, started its trial operation on Aug 12. Shanghai Florentia Village now covers a floor area of about 70,000 square meters in total, with more than 300 shops and 3,000 parking spots.

In addition, a nearly 3,000-square-meter family amusement park is part of the village. Along with the shopping malls, the jungle exploration-themed amusement park is expected to provide a one-stop entertainment site for consumers.

Shanghai's consumer market has huge potential, while Pudong provides great infrastructure, said Simon Williamson, chief merchant of Value Retail China, which currently operates a luxury outlet called Bicester Village in Pudong. The shopping village has seen annual double-digit growth in its revenue and customer traffic flow since it opened in 2016.

Value Retail will work closely with the local government and actively involve itself in Pudong's development and opening-up, added Williamson.

Shanghai International Resort, where Bicester Village and Shanghai Disneyland are located, has received a total of 85 million visits and generated more than 40 billion yuan in tourism revenue over the past five years.

A guideline released on July 15 by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council focused on building Pudong into a leading zone in expanding domestic demand. It also urged the area to boost consumption by improving the quality of goods and services, said Chao Gangling, a professor at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.

Without satisfactory goods and services, marketing campaigns will reap only limited benefits, let alone upgrade consumption, said Chao.

In addition to consumer goods, Pudong is expected to ease market access for foreign capital in its service consumption sector, according to the guideline. Pudong can make full use of its advantages in terms of resources and market to develop more service consumption projects like luxury retirement communities, apartments, as well as hospitals, said Chao.

A number of new consumption trends, such as online and green consumption, are also highlighted in the guideline.