From left: Qibao Ancient Town in Shanghai is a fine example of the beautiful water towns along the Yangtze River. Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station is a major transport hub in the city. The view of Minhang Sport Park in Shanghai. CHINA DAILY

District of Shanghai makes a name for itself with economy, corporate residents

Shanghai's Minhang district has strengthened the quality of its business environment, hoping to serve as a "key" for foreign investors to open opportunities in the Chinese market.

Located at the heart of Shanghai, the key-shaped Minhang district is the only area in the city running across the Huangpu River.

The district's economic strength ranks No 2 in Shanghai, contributing about 8 percent of the city's GDP. It also contributes 11 percent of the city's gross industrial output value and 15 percent of strategic emerging industries in Shanghai. Its financial income ranks second in Shanghai next to Pudong district.

"Serving the country's major development strategy, Minhang is on its way to becoming a powerful and vibrant growth hub of national economic development," said Wu Changfei, director of the Minhang Investment Promotion Center.

Last year, the country issued the Outline Plan for Integrated Regional Development of the Yangtze River Delta.

"Minhang, with its outstanding geographical advantages, well-developed transport infrastructure and solid industry foundation plays a vital role and it is expected to see a leapfrog development," Wu said.

The district is accelerating its pace to become a national sample area of high-quality economic development, a demonstration area of integrated regional development and a highland of reform and opening-up, according to Wu.

"In recent years, Minhang has continuously optimized the industry layout with a series of measures and policies so as to achieve long-term quality and sustainable development. We hope it can become an ideal destination for global investors," Wu said. Well-known for its strong power industry system, Minhang specializes in manufacturing, aerospace dynamotors and nuclear-power generators.

At the same time, Minhang also listed the advanced manufacturing industry and modern service industry as key development fields.

With its four leading industries of high-end equipment, artificial intelligence, next-generation information technology and biomedicine, it aims to build up the brand of "Made in Shanghai".

According to the Minhang government, its four key industrial parks－namely Minhang Economic and Technological Development Zone; Xinzhuang Industrial Park; Lingang Pujiang International Science and Technology City; and Zizhu National High-Tech Industrial Development Zone－have maintained steady development.

Their total gross industrial output value accounts for around 60 percent of the district's total.

A rendering of the night view of Nanhong bridge in Minhang district. CHINA DAILY

To improve the industrial structure and promote industrial transformation and upgrading, Minhang started to revitalize resources across the district in 2018.

A total of 8 square kilometers of land was cleared up for industrial transformation.

While developing the modern service industry, the district gives priority to the development of international trade, modern finance, culture and creativity, and technology service. This district wants to build up the reputation of "Shanghai Service", "Shanghai Culture" and "Shanghai Shopping".

Enjoying the benefits brought by its location and transportation hub, Hongqiao Central Business District is becoming a hot spot for the development of the modern service industry.

Hongqiao CBD is a key development area recognized by Shanghai municipality and a comprehensive pilot area for the modern service industry specified by the State.

Hongqiao transportation hub is one of the world's largest integrated transport networks. It includes Hongqiao International Airport, a railway hub, highway and metro lines network.

More than 1.1 million passengers travel via Hongqiao hub across the country and the world each day. As a result, Hongqiao CBD has become a top choice for multinational companies.

So far, it is home to more than 2,300 domestic and multinational companies. In the eyes of many enterprises, the future development prospects of Hongqiao are positive.

A company official from the world-leading car parts supplier KSPG said while being investigated for an business environment evaluation report by PWC: "In order to further expand KSPG's business share in China, the company chose to set its regional headquarters in Hongqiao CBD.Most of KSPG's factories are located in Shanghai or neighboring areas such as Jiading and Kunshan, which coincides with the geographic and traffic advantages of Hongqiao."

KSPG settled in Hongqiao CBD in 2016. The business atmosphere is fabulous and other companies settled here are basically large professional companies. Management is quite satisfied with the office environment here, it said.

"We chose to set up our headquarters here because we are very optimistic about the future development potential of this region. We believe things will be better and better here," the company official said.

"In addition to a good office environment for enterprises, we are also working to establish complete sets of support facilities," according to Wu. "A well-designed international community, convenient facilities as well as rich medical and education resources also play an important role of attracting high-end talents and overseas professionals," Wu said.

According to a report on Minhang's business report launched by Invest Shanghai in 2019, Minhang has performed extraordinarily in sustainable development, opening up the investment environment for entrepreneurship and innovation, as well as government service. Among the 12 evaluation indicators, the district has 11 equal to or higher than the city's average.

By 2019, the district had attracted 44 regional headquarters and 40 R&D centers of multinational companies, according to the Minhang government.