International business leaders attend the annual meeting of the International Business Leaders' Advisory Council in Shanghai yesterday. Mayor Yang Xiong told the one-day meeting that Shanghai aims to become a global city of excellence and the Internet has offered the city a great opportunity to seek a new economic growth engine. (Wang Rongjiang)
Shanghai aims to be a global city of excellence by 2040, said Mayor Yang Xiong.
The drive to so would be accompanied by further development in the smart Internet industry, digitalization and innovative regulatory scheme, he said yesterday after the annual meeting in the city of the International Business Leaders' Advisory Council.
The one-day meeting discussed the challenges and opportunities of making Shanghai a smart city, the transformation of industries, the role of small and middle-sized enterprises, supply of talent and the use of data to pursue the goal of becoming a global city of excellence.
Speaking of the city government's role in the process, Yang indicated the city faces challenges ahead with building a smart Internet system--such as the drastic changes it will bring with it.
The city government must prepare itself to be able to deal with such difficulties and find the right balance between innovation and regulation, he said.
"I don't think innovation and regulation run counter to each other," Yang said at a media conference after the meeting. But there is always a bottom line when it came to innovation, he said, such as the issues of security, and ethical and moral concerns.
The theme of this year's meeting, "Sustainable Development of Shanghai in the Internet Era," attracted around 500 foreign and Chinese delegates.
Mark Weinberger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the auditing firm Ernst & Young, was elected the new chairman of the International Business Leaders' Advisory Council for the next two years.
He takes over from Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP Plc, the world's biggest advertising agency.
The advisory council meeting, initiated in 1989 by then Shanghai Mayor Zhu Rongji, was envisioned as a platform for the world's top business leaders to provide strategic advice on Shanghai's development and challenges.
In his keynote speech, Mayor Yang said "we live in an era where Internet is omnipresent with our lives more colorful and enriched while sustainable development is ever more important."
"Internet lies in the foundation as Shanghai is becoming an international economic, finance, trade, shipping and scientific innovation center," Yang said.
The city has answered the call from the State Council and has incorporated the Internet into the core of its development blueprint, the mayor said.
Yang laid out the major tasks for Shanghai to establish itself as an international economic, finance, trade, shipping and scientific innovation center, as well as drawing up a master plan to become a global city of excellence.
"The Internet Plus is a great opportunity for Shanghai to pursue economic restructuring and to seek a new economic growth engine," he said.
