Pudong goes for higher level of opening-up

The Pudong New Area – located in East China's Shanghai city – is gearing up for a much higher level of opening up to international markets. 

The subject was top of the agenda at a parallel session of the 4th Hongqiao International Economic Forum, which was part of the 4th China International Import Expo that was held in Shanghai on Nov 5-10. 

Under guidelines jointly released on July 15 by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, China's Cabinet, Pudong is set to pioneer the country's socialist modernization and a higher level of reform and opening up.

Hang Yingwei, governor of the Pudong New Area, delivers a speech at the parallel session. [Photo/WeChat account: pdnews] 

The area will also serve as a strategic link between the domestic and international markets. Industrial clusters for big data, new energy vehicles, computer chips manufacturing, smart manufacturing, biomedicines and civil aviation have already taken shape in Pudong – with each of their annual industrial output topping 100 billion yuan ($15.6 billion) last year, said Hang Yingwei, governor of the Pudong New Area. 

In the first three quarters of the year, Pudong reported double-digit growths in major economic indicators such as the value of exports, major infrastructure investment and the total retail value of consumer goods. The area's GDP growth for the first three quarters was 10.8 percent.

It is felt that the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, which covers most of Pudong, should be the testing ground for a higher level of reforms and opening up.