Shanghai will prioritize launching pioneer and integrated policies, issuing new bailout measures, and optimizing the business environment to stabilize economic growth this year, the city’s mayor Gong Zheng said at the first session of the 16th Shanghai People’s Congress. He stated that Shanghai’s economy saw a V-shaped rebound in 2022, showing that its economic resilience, potential, vitality and long-term positive fundamentals have not changed.
To achieve this year’s target for economic growth at more than 5.5 percent, Shanghai will adhere to “stability” at the forefront while pursuing progress, highlighting the work of stabilizing growth, employment and prices, Gong said. He also stated that in order to achieve this goal, three aspects need to be given greater efforts and breakthroughs: giving full play to the leading role of national key strategic tasks and launch more pioneer and integrated policies, issuing a new round of bailout measures to shore up confidence and expand demand, and further optimizing business environment.
Gong also noted the achievements and future plans of the Lingang Special Area of the city’s pilot free trade zone, which in the past three years has cumulatively issued 283 policies of various kinds, involving a total investment of 774.5 billion yuan (US$115.5 billion). He also added that the area’s main economic indicators have maintained double-digit growth and the next step will be to expand system-based opening up in Lingang, exploring institutional innovation in areas such as digital economy, fair competition, and intellectual property protection.
It will also invest in building world-class industrial clusters, accelerating the formation industrial clusters worth hundreds of billions of yuan, such as artificial intelligence, new-energy vehicles, high-end equipment and integrated circuits. Meanwhile, to enhance global service functions, Lingang is to vigorously cultivate emerging financial industries and business patterns such as financial technology and cross-border finance, and push ahead the development of offshore trade, digital trade and other new types of international trade.
On bailout measures, the city has introduced and implemented three rounds of policies since March 2022 to stabilize growth and help enterprises to alleviate their difficulties. Tax and fee reductions for various market entities have accumulated more than 300 billion yuan throughout the year. Gong emphasized that enterprises are the basic cells of the economy and society and Shanghai has always placed a special importance on protecting market players and promoting enterprise development.
