CIIE's influence on Shanghai's Hongqiao CBD expands, with 3-year trade volume reaching 75.93 bln yuan

Editor's note: Zhou Jianjun, is an assistant researcher at the Institute of State System Research and School of Economics, Zhejiang University. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN. It has been translated from Chinese and edited for brevity and clarity.

In 2009, Shanghai officially announced plans to build Hongqiao CBD around a transportation hub, rebranding it as the Shanghai Hongqiao International Central Business District in August 2021. With the China International Import Expo (CIIE) as the driving force, Hongqiao CBD has developed in leaps and bounds. At the same time, the CBD aims to deepen the influence exerted by CIIE, implementing measures to streamline services for talents in commerce and trade, comprehensively enhancing its service ecosystem, and further invigorating the regional economy.

Over the past three years, import and export volume in the Hongqiao International CBD has grown from 24.13 billion yuan ($3.37 billion) to 75.93 billion yuan, reflecting significant progress in trade. Specifically, cross-border e-commerce has delivered an impressive performance, with Hongqiao CBD Bonded Logistics Center ranking first in the city for both cross-border e-commerce orders and sales. With the help of the CIIE platform, Shanghai Hongqiao International CBD is establishing itself as a distribution hub for imports and exports that connects the Yangtze River Delta, serves the entire country, and reaches across the Asia-Pacific region. By furthering the development of an influential leading area for the "Silk Road E-commerce" initiative, the CBD established a "Silk Road E-commerce" digital technology application center and a new international trade platform.

To materialize the benefits brought about by the CIIE's spillover effects, Hongqiao International CBD is drawing on its unique advantages to establish a dedicated cross-border e-commerce service window for Shanghai Port, encouraging leading digital enterprises in the district to form a digital trade industry alliance and setting up a cross-border data service center. On this basis, efforts have been made to build a headquarters cluster for enterprises along the Yangtze River Delta that focuses on service trade, digital trade, and offshore trade, continuously extending the industrial chain and expanding industry depth. These measures significantly enhance the CBD's corporate landscape and service ecosystem, contribute to greater vitality in economic development in the CBD, and better fuel regional, integrated, and international development in both the surrounding area and the Yangtze River Delta as a whole.

To further deepen the influence of the CIIE, Hongqiao International CBD is introducing corresponding initiatives to streamline services for talents in commerce and trade, with several key highlights:

First, the key role of enterprises in talent attraction has been highlighted. The CBD will strengthen recommendations for key companies on talent attraction, adding qualified top-tier companies to Shanghai's list of key institutions for talent attraction and granting them greater autonomy in bringing in talents. Through household registration policies for special talents, companies will receive additional household registration quotas for talents they recruit. This approach will maximize the location advantages of quality enterprises and motivate them to attract more professional talents.

Second, it has underscored the importance of talent projects for talent attraction. The CBD will strengthen the development of a talent pool in the commerce and trade sector, supporting talents in this field in applying for the Eastern Talent Plan's leading talent program and youth talent program. By establishing various talent projects, it can offer competitive benefits to outstanding talents, thus enhancing the district's appeal to high-quality talents. On the other hand, it sets rigorous selection standards and high expectations to accurately screen outstanding talents and supply the CBD with more top-tier talents.

Third, the necessity of international talent development has been stressed. Using the Hongqiao International Talent Service Center as a base, the CBD will enhance support for the international development of talents. This includes facilitating endorsements for travel to and from the Hong Kong and Macao SARs for eligible senior corporate managers and talents, as well as providing convenient services for visas, residence, work, life, and others for international talents. These steps significantly facilitate international talents working in China, lower entry barriers, ease international communications, and increase the CBD's attractiveness.  

In addition to providing more convenient talent services, policies in other areas, primarily investment promotion, financial support, and innovation support, may be introduced to further propel the CBD's development.

In terms of investment promotion, investment in the CBD should be made more diversified and international. By further relaxing restrictions on foreign investment access, it is possible to establish a zero-threshold entry for foreign investment and encourage well-known transnational companies to set up wholly-owned subsidiaries and R&D centers in the CBD. Additionally, vigorous efforts can be made to attract wholly foreign-owned hospitals and both public and private foreign offerings to diversify investments in the area.

As for financial support, expanding financial opening up and easing the flow of funds are essential. Support could be provided for cross-border trade financing and refinancing in renminbi, as well as for cross-border investment and financing services for local entities. Furthermore, an integrated local and foreign currency pool can be developed to give businesses in the CBD more autonomy in foreign exchange transactions.

Regarding technology and innovation support, there is a further need to drive growth and strengthen the capacity of high-tech enterprises. This could include encouraging universities and research institutes to establish R&D centers for technology and innovation in the CBD and set up functional R&D headquarters and innovation consortia. Additionally, an investment fund for technological innovation in the Yangtze River Delta may be established to support more early-stage ("young-eagle") and high-growth ("gazelle") companies, nurturing future tech unicorns.

Through a combination of measures, the Hongqiao International CBD can not only effectively capture and amplify the CIIE's influence and spillover effects but also give full play to its own strengths and initiative, thereby exploring development paths tailored to its unique characteristics. Through ceaseless innovation, it can evolve into a premier global hub with high-end resource allocation, driving higher-standard opening up and higher-quality development across Shanghai and the broader Yangtze River Delta region.