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Shanghai to become center for innovation

2015-01-26 09:17 Shanghai Daily Web Editor: Qian Ruisha
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Shanghai Mayor Yang Xiong told lawmakers and political advisers yesterday that the city was at a "critical stage of innovation-driven economic transformation."

Delivering the city government's work report at the opening of the annual session of the Shanghai People's Congress, he said: "Reform and opening-up will make new headway. The economy will maintain steady growth with structural optimization that bolsters both quality and efficiency, and government spending will grow in tandem with the economy."

Yang added: "The year of 2015 marks the final year to deliver the targets of the 12th Five-Year Plan. Shanghai is standing at a critical point — although the fundamentals remain positive, we must be aware of the difficulties and challenges ahead."

For the first time, there was no mention of a detailed growth target, which last year had been set at 7.5 percent.

Canceling the GDP target was suggested by national lawmakers in 2013, a move they said would benefit China's industrial restructuring in the long term through reducing short-term pressure on the economy.

In November last year, Shanghai Party Secretary Han Zheng told reporters the city was attaching less importance to GDP growth and paying more attention to the economy's quality, structure and efficiency, as well as the city's contribution to national strategy on reform and innovation.

The China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone is one such strategic issue, Yang said. As a first mover, Shanghai will continue to accelerate the institutional innovation in the zone, deepen reforms in key fields and raise the open economy to a higher level.

In 2014, an updated negative list was released for the zone, while 31 new opening-up measures were implemented as part of efforts to facilitate trade.

Steady progress had been made in opening up the financial services sector, the mayor said.

The city will continue to accelerate the construction of the free trade zone, making it a place for the introduction of new policies and a model for other recently established zones in the nation, Yang said.

Missions on the agenda include better coordination between the zone's development and the city's ambition to become a global financial center.

The zone will further promote cross-border use of the yuan, run a trial program on outbound investment by individuals, and speed up the process of the yuan's convertibility under the capital account, he said.

 

Meanwhile, Shanghai will enhance efforts to become a center of innovation in science and technology with global clout. A number of key projects will be carried out this year in areas such as civil aviation engines and gas turbines, brain science and artificial intelligence, together with projects to be launched on new energy vehicles, robotics and smart manufacturing, Yang said.

Last year, the city set aside a record 83.1 billion yuan (US$13.6 billion) for research and development in a bid to push forward technological innovation and increase the added value of its economy. The investment equaled 3.6 percent of the city's GDP, and put Shanghai on a par with cities in developed countries as regards R&D input.

Shanghai's economy expanded 7 percent in 2014, down from the pace of 7.7 percent in 2013. But at the same time, the city made big strides in reform and innovation, Yang said. The achievements included the acceleration of reform in state-owned enterprises, the establishment of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect program, the arrival of the BRICS Development Bank and the establishment of the Shanghai International Aviation Court of Arbitration.

By the end of last year, 490 multinational companies had set up their regional headquarters in Shanghai, and outbound direct investment reached US$12.3 billion under a pilot program to cut red tape.

Yang said the city will start work on Metro Lines 15 and 18 as well as the third phase of Line 8 this year.

The city will also speed up the development of the Yangshan Deep Water Port's fourth phase, and complete main construction at the former World Expo site and Hongqiao Business Park.

Work on 115,000 subsidized housing units would start this year to sustain a long-term supply of affordable housing.

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