浦东开发开放 推动上海不断创造奇迹   2020-12-14

 

The development and opening-up of Pudong is an important decision made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council in 1990, kicking off a new round of reform and opening-up in China. Seizing the opportunity of Pudong’s reform and opening-up, Shanghai put forward a strategic plan to build itself into “a global economic center, a global financial center and a global trade center with Pudong as the pioneer,” and later proposed to build itself into a global shipping center and a global science and technology innovation center. Through “east-west integration, and joint development,” Shanghai has been constantly making miracles. Its development over the past 30 years is a testament to the significant strategic value of the development and opening-up of Pudong in reshaping the pattern of China’s economic geography and regional development.
First, Pudong’s development and opening-up policy has cemented Shanghai’s status as a global metropolitan. In 1984, Shanghai became one of the 14 cities opened to the outside world along the coast, and set up three national economic and technological development zones, namely Minhang Economic and Technological Development Zone, Hongqiao Economic and Technological Development Zone, and Caohejing New Technology Development Zone. However, given Shanghai’s enormous economic development potential, the three development zones were far from enough. Since the development and opening-up of Pudong in 1990, Shanghai has entered a fast track of economic development and gradually become one of the major global cities. In 2019, Shanghai’s GDP registered RMB3.82 trillion, accounting for 4% of China’s total, and ranking among the top 10 cities worldwide. Shanghai is a hot land for foreign investment in China. Since 2016, Shanghai’s actual use of foreign capital has accounted for more than 15% of China’s total every year. Besides, Shanghai is an important node city for the exports of China’s products and imports of raw materials and intermediate inputs. In 2018, Shanghai’s foreign trade in goods hit US$513.95 billion, taking up 11% of China’s total. In the past 30 years, Shanghai’s ability to allocate economic resources, trade resources, scientific and technological resources across the world have improved significantly. According to the world city rankings provided by world-renowned GaWC (Globalization and World Cities Research Network), Shanghai has risen from the third tier in early 2000 to the first tier, significantly reducing the gap between itself with London and New York.
Second, Pudong’s development and opening-up policy underlies the development of Yangtze River Delta into a global manufacturing center. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Yangtze River Delta has been one of the richest and most modernized regions in China. After the reform and opening-up was launched, South Jiangsu’s economy that focuses on the development of collective enterprises in towns and villages, and Zhejiang’s economy that focuses on the development of individual and private economy, have stood out, stimulating local entrepreneurship while driving local economic growth. Since the development and opening-up of Pudong started, the central government has launched many preferential policies in Pudong, enabling Shanghai to take the lead in linking up with the world, and develop advantages of opening-up with institutional advantages. Under the guidance of Pudong’s development and opening-up policy, local governments of other cities in the Yangtze River Delta near Shanghai have been innovating their systems. On one hand, they have stepped up efforts to attract foreign investment and boost international trade. On the other hand, they have been helping local entrepreneurs and enterprises to integrate with the international market, and become a part of the global industrial labor division system. In recent years, many manufacturing enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta region have switched from independent processing and assembly, and commissioned processing in the early stage to making independent design and processing and even developing brands through continuous innovation and upgrading. Some of them have become world leaders in the fields of glass fiber, polyester filament, cobalt products, etc. According to 2019 Advanced Manufacturing Cluster White Paper released by the Sadie think tank of the China Electronic Information Industry, 19 of the top 50 Chinese cities with the highest composite index points in the advanced manufacturing industry are located in the Yangtze River Delta region, while Shanghai ranks first; nearly one-third of the top 500 advanced manufacturing enterprises are based in the Yangtze River Delta region and most of them are private enterprises.
Third, Pudong’s development and opening-up policy has helped rebalance China’s regional development. With the development and opening-up of Pudong, Shanghai has been constantly adjusting its industrial structure to meet new development requirements while witnessing rapid economic development. Since the beginning of the “12th Five-Year Plan” period, Shanghai has focused on transformation and upgrading, and been committed to the development of five core areas in Shanghai: economy, finance, trade, shipping and scientific and technological innovation. It emphasizes the driving force of the service industry that plays a leading role, and strives to facilitate modernized, intensive development of the manufacturing industry while increasing its added value. Driven by structural adjustment, transformation and upgrading, in order to expand the market and optimize resource allocation, enterprises in Shanghai have begun to transfer and expand across regions. The outward moving has created spillover effects in neighboring regions and provinces in Central China. In recent years, many enterprises have adopted the pattern of “headquarters + manufacturing base,” with the headquarters in Shanghai, and the production and manufacturing bases in Anhui, North Jiangsu, Henan, Hubei, etc. According to the 2020 research report Shanghai's Competitiveness - Based on the Analysis of the Investment and Financing Network of Enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta Economic Circle released by the Shanghai-Hong Kong Development Institute jointly established by Fudan University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, enterprises in Shanghai are the main source of external investment in some cities in Anhui. From 2008 to 2015, the investment made by enterprises in Shanghai in Xuancheng, Fuyang and Anqing accounted for 73%, 67% and 46% of their total external investment respectively. As the industrial structure continues to move upstream along the value chain where there are more innovative resources, the connection between Shanghai and neighboring provinces and cities in terms of industrial resources becomes closer. Cities in the Central China use their own resources to receive industrial transfers and corporate investment from Shanghai, bringing about more regional development opportunities, and contributing to rebalancing China’s regional development to a great extent.
Author: Chen Shiyi, Secretary of the Party Committee and Professor of the School of Economics at Fudan University, and Wu Jianfeng, Associate Professor of the School of Economics at Fudan University
 

 

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