High-rise\r\n buildings and skyscrapers dominate the skyline of the Huangpu River and\r\n the Lujiazui Financial district in Pudong, Shanghai. [Photo/Sipa]

Shanghai launched 64 new projects with a combined investment of 273.4\r\n billion yuan ($42.2 billion) on Jan 4, involving high-end industries, \r\nscientific and technological innovation, infrastructure, major \r\nlivelihood and other fields.

The projects will spread across the city and will further unleash \r\nShanghai's enormous development potential. It includes manufacturing, \r\nintegrated circuits, biomedical and artificial intelligence projects, as\r\n well as high-end industrial chain programs of technological innovation,\r\n finance and trading.

Shanghai's economy has largely remained resilient despite the \r\nCOVID-19 effect. From January to November, its fixed assets investment \r\ngrew by 10.7 percent on a yearly basis, while manufacturing investment \r\nrose by 19.3 percent, the 33rd month in a row of double-digit growth.

Work on a 150,000-square-meter biopharmaceutical industry base has \r\nstarted in the Pudong New Area of the city. The 8 billion yuan \r\ninvestment industrial base will focus on antibodies, vaccines, cell \r\ntherapy and gene therapy. It will be one of the most advanced industrial\r\n clusters for biopharmaceutical innovation in the nation, said Zuo Min, \r\nexecutive director and president of Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Holding Co \r\nLtd.

According to Zuo, the biopharmaceutical industrial base will help \r\naccelerate the development and industrialization of the new drugs made \r\nby the company.

Pudong, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2020, continues to \r\nbe a major engine for opening-up in Shanghai. On Jan 4, the new area \r\nlaunched 15 projects with a total investment of 84.8 billion yuan, \r\naccording to officials.

"Pudong will actively take the lead by developing key industries and \r\neffectively attracting investment for high-quality projects, so as to \r\nguarantee the high-quality development of the city and the nation," said\r\n Hang Yingwei, director of the Pudong New Area.

The new area administration has earmarked 4.94 billion yuan for the \r\nrenovation of a key road project－Yanggao Road, to ease traffic jams in \r\nthe area, as part of the ongoing efforts to improve infrastructure \r\nfacilities and enhance efficiency, said Yao Kai, an official of the \r\nPudong New Area.

The project will be sustainable, intelligent, as well as environmentally-friendly, said Yao.

Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Co, a unit of China State Shipbuilding \r\nCorp, broke ground for its new site on Changxing island on Jan 4. The \r\nfirst phase of the project will involve an investment of 8 billion yuan \r\nto build 460,000 sq m gross floor area including research and \r\ndevelopment facilities, workshops and docks. This will enable the \r\nshipbuilder to build six special vessels every year after the project is\r\n completed by the end of 2023.

The overall project involving an investment of 18 billion yuan seeks \r\nto upgrade Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding into a world-class intelligent \r\nshipyard with advanced facilities, great operational efficiency and high\r\n standards of safety and sustainability, said Chen Jianliang, chairman \r\nof Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding.

Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical was another major enterprise that \r\nstarted work on its 3.5 billion yuan large tow carbon fiber project on Jan 4.

The project due to be completed by 2024 will reduce China's reliance \r\non imports and end supply shortages, according to Wu Haijun, chairman of\r\n Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical.

"We are confident that this will be a landmark project in Sinopec's industrial upgrade," said Wu.

The East China University of Political Science and Law said on Jan 4\r\n that its 489 million yuan Songjiang campus expansion project is one of \r\nthe largest infrastructure and investment projects in Songjiang district\r\n of the city.

While retaining the classic style of the university's existing \r\nbuildings, the expansion project will also focus on having \r\nstate-of-the-art interiors to satisfy the day-today requirements for \r\nteaching and studies, said Guo Weilu, Party secretary of the East China \r\nUniversity of Political Science and Law. Guo said the expansion project \r\nis set to be completed in three years.

The projects, launched on Jan 4 with a variety of State-owned, \r\nprivate-owned and foreign investments, are fueled by opportunities \r\narising from China's industrial transition and consumption upgrade, and \r\nwill spur the city's technology upgrade efforts, said officials.