Pioneering“Oriental Pearl”

THIRTY-FOUR years ago， the tallest buildingin Shanghai’s Pudong area was the FireWatchtower on Dongchang Road. Its heightwas merely 24 meters. It was matched byPudong’s GDP， which was a little over RMB six billion.Today， the tallest building in Pudong is the ShanghaiTower at a whopping height of 632 meters， and theskyline is full of majestic skyscrapers， such as theOriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai World FinancialCenter. Proportionately， the district’s GDP has rocketedto over RMB 1.67 trillion. Reform and opening-up，started in 1978， has brought new vitality and prosperity，along with dramatic changes.

While Shanghai is the frontier of China’sreform and opening-up， the Pudong New Areain eastern Shanghai is a pioneer mandatedwith piloting new systems and exploring newdevelopment paths. To boost trade， China’sfirst bonded area was established here. It thenbecame China’s first pilot free trade zone. Theonce muddy land by the Huangpu， Shanghai’smother river， has metamorphosed into the lustrous“Oriental Pearl.”

Since the 18th National Congress of the CommunistParty of China （CPC） in 2012， PresidentXi Jinping， also general secretary of the CPCCentral Committee， inspected Shanghai sixtimes， directing the megacity to “spearhead thereform and opening-up and pioneer innovativedevelopment.” Last year， he stressed that Shanghaishould comprehensively deepen reform andopening-up from a higher starting point andenhance development momentum and competitiveness.

Earlier this year， the General Office of theCPC Central Committee and the General Officeof the State Council issued the ImplementationPlan for the Pilot Comprehensive Reformof Pudong New Area of Shanghai （2023-2027），highlighting “originality” and “leading role” ofreform policies.

In 2020， Pudong， with only 1/8，000th ofChina’s land area， created 1/80th of the nationalGDP， becoming a miracle of China’s reform，opening-up， and economic development. By"2023， this ratio had reached anew high of 1/75th.

The Starting Point

In 1990， the Pudong DevelopmentOffice was established，marking the starting point ofthe area’s reform and openingup.Two shelves and a long tableformed the three-square-meterreception area. But though small， it played an importantrole in providing consultation and guidance tothe nearly 100 visitors it received daily. For the manyforeign investors who came， the reception was theirfirst impression of Pudong’s business environment.Today， the office has become the Pudong DevelopmentExhibition Hall，

In 2017， Pudong launched a “one-stop onlineservice” for market access registration. This meantnewly registered enterprises could get an appointmentand have their papers processed the same day.From multiple trips to one trip and then to none， theone-stop online service works with lightning speed.By 2018， the approval procedure for all the 327 itemsthat needed district-level approval had been movedonline， requiring no face-to-face meetings.

Licenses were issued before permits and onecertificate did the function of many. Such measureslowered the market entry threshold and institutionaltransaction costs， and the new terms born from"Pudong’s deepening reform became buzzwords.

In 2020， Pudong took the lead nationwide to pilotartificial intelligence （AI）-assisted approval. By usingAI-based information recognition， core algorithms，and knowledge graphs， it built an “approval brain，”enabling enterprises to apply without having to submitany materials. This AI-assisted approval systemcovers all enterprise-related approval items， with theentire process taking only 10 minutes.

The “business permit” is a high-frequency itemin administrative approval services. The streamlinedbut faster approval process reflects the government’stransformation from a “manager” to a “service provider.”

In July 2019， the Pudong New Area implementedthe “one integrated license” reform， integrating multiplelicenses into one comprehensive license， reducingthe approval processing time by nearly 90 percentand application materials by nearly 70 percent.

“After the one-integrated-license reform， I onlyneed to submit the application online， and after thepreliminary review， I submit one document，” said abrand manager who applied for licenses for multiplestores. “Then I submit the materials on site， and getthe industry comprehensive license， greatly savingtime.”

These pioneering reform measures have stimulatedShanghai’s economic vitality and created a worldclassbusiness environment.

Openness， the Defining Characteristic

“Openness” is Pudong’s mission and greatest characteristic.

It has created a model of institutional opening-up.The China （Shanghai） Pilot Free Trade Zone followshigh-standard international economic and traderules， such as those regulating the Comprehensiveand Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnershipand the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement.

Pudong has been working to build an enablingbusiness ecosystem for innovation. It launched apublic service platform that bids for the best candidatesfor scientific and technological innovation.Focusing on creating new quality productive forcesand promoting a modern industrial system， Pudonghas optimized its industrial and spatial layouts andservice system， eyeing for the development of the entireindustrial chains. To provide financial support fortechnological innovation， it has established a specialfund.

Attracting high-level talent is another priority. Itsservice for world top-notch talent can be experiencedfrom the moment people arrive in the Pudong InternationalAirport.