The Shanghai Hongqiao International Central Business District Investment Promotion Conference 2023 takes place in Shanghai on May 25. [Photo provided to en.shhqcbd.gov.cn]
The Shanghai Hongqiao International Central Business District held an investment promotion conference on May 25 to highlight the region's strong growth momentum and provide a platform for domestic and foreign investors to share new development opportunities.
From January to April, the business district introduced 146 key projects and signed intended investment deals worth 85.3 billion yuan ($12.03 billion). Since the beginning of this year, the district has taken measures such as building distribution centers for imported goods and boosted the headquarters economy and modern service industry to advance regional integration.
High-quality development
The Hongqiao CBD has in recent years been keenly focused on integrating businesses, conventions and exhibitions, transportation, and scientific and technological innovation.
From January to April, the district's economy continued to show resilience, with tax revenues increasing by 42.8 percent year-on-year, while fixed-asset investment rose 15.9 percent year-on-year. Retail sales of consumer goods also soared 34.9 percent year-on-year.
Bao Bingzhang, executive deputy head of the management committee of the business district, stated the Hongqiao CBD is striving to build a market-oriented innovation cluster for emerging industries and speeding up the construction of application scenarios for an online park related to the new economy. The district is presently home to more than 14,000 scientific research and technology service companies - 3.4 times higher than the city's average.
JP Carriquiry, head of the Shanghai representative office of the Exporters Union of Uruguay, delivers a speech on behalf of overseas commercial chambers at the Shanghai Hongqiao International Central Business District Investment Promotion Conference 2023 on May 25. [Photo provided to en.shhqcbd.gov.cn]
Deepening opening-up
The business district has been optimizing the functions of its key exhibition and sales platforms such as the global digital trade port, the new Hongqiao International Medical Center and the Hongqiao Import Commodity Exhibition and Trading Center to gather a wider range of domestic and foreign resources. At present, there are more than 90,000 types of goods from more than 90 countries and regions on these platforms.
The district has also been cultivating new types of international trade, including cross-border e-commerce and digital trade. So far, 37 international trade and investment promotion agencies such as the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Swiss China Center have settled in the Hongqiao Overseas Trade Center.
A first-class business environment
The business district has been strengthening institutional policy innovation, promoting industrial linkage in the Yangtze River Delta region and facilitating resource flow among enterprises.
It has so far issued 29 national policies and 20 local measures and supported the construction of major projects led by enterprises such as Trinasolar, Jiangsu Chia-tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, or CTTQ, and Simcere Pharmaceutical Group Ltd.
