The Lujiazui area\r\n of Pudong, Shanghai ramps up efforts to develop its headquarters \r\neconomy, aiming to become a cluster for higher-level global \r\nheadquarters. [Photo/Sipa]

Hema Fresh, a grocery chain \r\nbacked by e-commerce giant Alibaba, opened its global headquarters in \r\nthe Lujiazui area of Pudong, Shanghai on Dec 31.

Hema chose \r\nLujiazui as its global headquarters due to its strong business \r\nenvironment and because the area is playing a leading role in new retail\r\n industry in China, said Yuan Ruofan, head of the industrial development\r\n center of Hema Fresh.

"Hema's new headquarters and industrial \r\nbase in Pudong will inject the company with new growth momentum and \r\ndrive the high-quality development of Pudong," Yuan added.

It is \r\nPudong's most open and inclusive business environment, with its efforts \r\nin institutional innovation, that contributed to the settlement of Hema \r\nFresh's global headquarters. The Shanghai-born fresh food chain has seen\r\n rapid growth since it first obtained its business license in 2016, and \r\nhas opened more than 600 stores in 24 cities across the country.

"Shanghai\r\n has the largest group of consumers in China, and it is a testing \r\narea for new retail sales. The Lujiazui area in Shanghai is an important\r\n business district for high-end consumption in Shanghai, and leads the \r\ncity in consumption trends," said Yuan.

Local authorities said \r\nthat the settlement of its global headquarters in Lujiazui will promote \r\nthe high-quality development of Hema, and will help Pudong grow into a \r\nnew hub for the development of the online new economy.

Currently, \r\nLujiazui is ramping up efforts to develop its headquarters economy, \r\naiming to become a cluster for higher-level global headquarters.