Highlights from the Shanghai Municipal Government Work Report

BEIJING, Jan. 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from english.shanghai.gov.cn:

The second session of the 16th Shanghai Municipal People's Congress opened on the morning of Jan 23. Mayor Gong Zheng delivered a report on the government work in 2023.

What are Shanghai's socioeconomic achievements in 2023? What progress has been made in the "Five Centers" development project as well as in reform and opening-up? What priorities will Shanghai focus on in 2024? Let's have a look.

Review of government work in 2023

1. Shanghai's socioeconomic development made progress while maintaining stability

Municipal GDP increased by 5% to 4.72 trillion yuan

CPI up by 0.3%

Surveyed urban unemployment rate averaged at 4.5%

Output value of the three leading industries (IC, biomedicine & AI) totaled 1.6 trillion yuan

Total R&D expenditure reached around 4.4% of the city's GDP; Numbers of high-value invention patents per 10,000 people up to 50.2

Per capita disposable income amounted to 85,000 yuan, increasing by 6.6% and growing faster than the city's GDP

87.7% of the days in 2023 were rated excellent or good on AQI, up by 0.6 percentage points

Numbers of parks increased by 162, now totaling 832

2. Enhanced capacity of "Five Centers"

Construction on 58 major industrial projects, each worth over 1 billion yuan, kicked off; C919, China's first homegrown large passenger jet and its first cruise ship began commercial operation

Construction has begun on Shanghai East Railway Station and the north port operation area in Xiaoyangshan; the container throughput reached 49.158 million TEUs, ranking first globally for the 14th consecutive year

Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility Phase II and the Live Cell Imaging Facility completed construction and were put into operation; 7 high-quality incubators unveiled; Numbers of high-tech companies exceeded 24,000

3. Deepened development of Pudong as a leading area for socialist modernization

General Plan for Advancing the Institutional Opening-up of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone in Alignment with High-standard International Economic and Trade Rules ("80 policy measures") implemented; Pudong's comprehensive pilot reform plan and the first batch of authorized items were approved and put into effect; the 33 national pilot measures for FTZ institutional opening-up were implemented

126 new headquarters and 25 innovation centers of large-scale enterprises were established; 18 regulations and 22 management measures for Pudong New Area were implemented

4. Continuous implementation of the "three major tasks" and the more prominent role that the "three platforms" now play

Expansion of the Yangshan Special Comprehensive Bonded Zone Phase III was approved; over 100 major industrial projects with a total investment of 100 billion yuan

Enhanced the functions of the STAR Market; Shanghai-based companies ranked No 1 nationwide in the amount of funds raised through IPO and market capitalization

21 key cooperation initiatives for the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) were implemented; 28 joint sci-tech innovation and research projects were accelerated; 152 service items were incorporated into the YRD's cross-jurisdiction one-stop government service portal

6th CIIE concluded with a cumulative intended transaction value of 78.41 billion US dollars, up by 6.7%

In the YRD Integrated Green Development Demonstration Zone, 24 institutional innovations were spearheaded, including the inter-provincial project approval mechanism and the cross-jurisdiction water joint protection plan

5. The implementation of multiple measures to expand domestic demand and stabilize international demand, with significant results in high-quality economic development

Implemented 15 measures to boost consumption, 24 measures to promote investment, 21 measures to stabilize foreign trade, and 20 measures to attract foreign investment

Major consumption promotion events were hosted, including the Double Five Shopping Festival and six themed consumption event series; another 1,215 first stores were added and the city's total retail sales of consumer goods surged up by 12.6%

Construction has begun for the eastern extension of Metro Line 13, Metro Line 19, and Phase I of the Nanhui-Fengjing Line, the railway line linking Lin-gang Special Area and Fengjing town in Jinshan district; key infrastructure projects were put to use, including S3 Highway;

Key project investment reached 225.74 billion yuan; the city's total fixed asset investment exceeded one trillion yuan, up by 13.8%

6. Full dedication to ensuring people's well-being, with continuous improvement of people's life

5,510 elderly care beds and 41 community canteens were added

579 summer care classes for primary school students were organized and an additional 5,308 places were added to community childcare programs

123,000 square meters of scattered dilapidated housing in the city's downtown area completed renovations; 10 urban village transformation projects have begun construction

3,001 elevators were installed in existing multi-story residential buildings; 81,000 units of subsidized rental housing were built

51,000 new electric vehicle public charging piles were installed

606,000 new jobs were created

227 community employment service centers were built

7. New headway made in urban governance and ecological progress

Another 8 km of public waterfront areas was linked up and opened to the public; the quality of the waterfront areas along the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek were steadily improved

112 km of overhead cables have been moved underground, 103 "beautiful street blocks" were built

Another 354,000 NEVs sold, NEV stock in Shanghai reaching 1.288 million, the highest among all cities in the world

Over 67,000 mu (4466.67 hectares) of forestland, 1,044 ha of green space, 231 km of urban greenway, and 430,000 sq m of vertical green landscaping added

8. Continuous improvement of the business environment, and further development of the Government Online-Offline Shanghai Portal and the Urban Management Platform

208 reform tasks outlined in the 6th version of the business environment improvement policies were fulfilled; an average of 1,904 new businesses were registered daily, up by 28.1%; No. of businesses per 1,000 people increased to 116.8, the highest in China

The Government Online-Offline Shanghai Portal cumulatively:

introduced 41 items into the "One Service" initiative

facilitates 200 frequently used government services in a smart and convenient way

unveiled 296 application-free services

1,466 applications of various types were integrated on the Urban Management Platform

Major Tasks in 2024

1. Main targets for socioeconomic development this year

Municipal GDP growth rate of around 5%

An increase of 5% in general budget revenue

Overall R&D expenditure making up about 4.5% of the city's GDP

Surveyed urban unemployment rate kept under 5%

Household income to increase in parallel with GDP growth; a target CPI of 3%

2. Building up the city's capabilities and core competence by speeding up the "Five Centers" development

To create 10 million sq m of space for smart manufacturing activities in high-rise industrial properties

To upgrade the capacity of the headquarters economy and carry out the Global Operation Program; to foster commodity trading platforms with an annual turnover of at least 100 billion yuan as well as those above one trillion yuan

To vigorously develop high-end shipping services

To accelerate the construction of major infrastructure projects, such as the north port operation area of Xiaoyangshan, Shanghai East Railway Station, Pudong International Airport Phase IV, and the Youdungang navigation channel upgrade project; to put Phase I of the Luojing Port Area Renovation project into use

3. Unleashing the full potential of consumption and accelerating the construction of major projects

To host the Double Five Shopping Festival and accelerate Shanghai's construction as an international consumption center

To break ground on
The eastern section of Phase I of Metro Line 20
The eastern extension of Shanghai Demonstration Zone Railway

To expedite the construction of
The Chongming Line and the Jiading-Minhang Line

To complete
the line connecting Hongqiao and Pudong airports
the western extension of Metro Line 17
the Shanghai section of the Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou Railway
the eastern section of the Beiheng Corridor

To advance the construction of major infrastructure projects, such as
The Shanghai section of Shanghai-Nantong Railway Phase II
The Shanghai section of Shanghai-Chongqing-Chengdu High-Speed Railway

4. Further driving the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta

To formulate and implement Shanghai's third three-year action plan; to accelerate the development of the G60 Science and Technology Innovation Corridor and the industrial innovation belt along Shanghai and Nanjing; to work together to build a YRD regional development community

To accelerate the construction of key projects, such as the Square Hall and Water Courtyard, and the Shanghai-Suzhou-Jiaxing Intercity Railway; to provide supporting services for the completion and operation of Huawei's R&D center in Qingpu district

5. Promoting high-standard reform and opening-up

To act on the opinions of central authorities regarding Pudong's development as a leading area for socialist modernization; to carry out the 280 tasks stipulated in Shanghai's action plans

To assist the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress and its standing committee in making new laws and regulations for Pudong

To follow through with the 80 measures proposed in the general plan on alignment with high-standard international economic and trade rules in an effort to steadfastly expand institutional opening-up

To further open up the telecommunications, finance and healthcare sectors;

To launch major construction projects, such as Dishui Lake School and the Lin-gang Campus of Pudong Hospital

6. Further optimizing the city's spatial layout and foster new growth drivers

To build integrated transportation hubs in new towns, such as the Songjiang Hub, and to advance the construction of rail transit lines, including the western extension of Metro Line 12, the southern extension of Metro Line 15, and the Nanhui-Fengjing Line

To build 26 new elementary schools, middle schools and kindergartens; to accelerate the construction of branches of tertiary hospitals like Zhongshan Hospital and Xinhua Hospital; and to open the completed sections of new urban green belts to the public

To catalyze the development of specialized industrial parks, such as North Shanghai Biopharmaceutical Industrial Park and Carbon Valley Green Bay

To advance the construction of the Legoland Park & Resort, and to break ground on the Shanghai Baoshan Railway Station project

7. Advancing further towards an international cultural metropolis and enhancing the city's cultural soft power

To further implement the Urban Memory Project, which safeguards the city's intangible cultural heritage, such as opera, folk art, and handicraft

To advance the northern and southern extensions of the Huangpu River cruise sightseeing route; to upgrade the cultural and tourism functions of the Suzhou Creek; and to facilitate the full resumption of international cruise lines

8. Further promoting green and low-carbon transformation and making Shanghai a beautiful city

To install 10,000 new public charging piles for electric vehicles

To construct 2 million sq m of buildings with ultra-low energy consumption; and to complete energy conservation renovations on 4 million sq m of public buildings

To build 120 new parks, open 30 twenty-four-hour urban parks, and develop an additional 31,000 mu (2066.66 hectares) of forestland, 1,000 ha of green space, 200 km of urban greenway, and 400,000 sq m of vertical green landscaping

9. Further modernizing urban governance

To complete renovations on 120,000 sq m of scattered dilapidated housing; to refurbish 310,000 sq m of weak-framed old houses in the city's main urban districts; and to start 10 urban village renovation projects

To promote the opening and sharing of spaces within 40 government agencies, public service institutions, and corporate entities; to move 130 km of overhead cables underground; and to build 100 "beautiful street blocks"

10. Taking further measures to substantially improve people's living conditions and quality of life

To create over 550,000 new urban jobs

To add 4,000 beds in elderly care institutions and 30 community canteens for the seniors; and provide 3,000 beds to the needs of the cognitively impaired

To add 3,000 daycare openings in public kindergartens and 7,000 openings in community childcare centers

To offer 70,000 units of subsidized rental housing

To provide over 30,000 beds in the "Homes for New Era Urban Builders and Managers"

To offer over 10,000 units of government-subsidized housing

To install 3,000 elevators into existing multi-story residences

SOURCE english.shanghai.gov.cn