The Information Office of Shanghai Municipality held a press conference on the afternoon of yesterday (March 2). Vice Mayor Hua Yuan introduced the construction achievements of Hongqiao International Central Business District on the second anniversary of the start of the construction of Hongqiao International Hub for Opening-up. Bao Bingzhang, Secretary of the Party Group and Executive Deputy Director of the Hongqiao International Central Business District Administration, Ruan Qing, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Chen Huawen, chief of Minhang District, Zhang Wei, chief of Changning District, Yang Xiaojing, chief of Qingpu District, and Gao Xiang, chief of Jiading District, attended the briefing and answered questions from reporters.Building Hongqiao International Hub for Opening-up is a major layout by the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core to promote the integrated development strategy of the Yangtze River Delta. In February 2021, the State Council approved the Overall Plan for the Construction of Hongqiao International Hub for Opening-up (hereinafter referred to as the Plan), drawing up a blueprint for the development of “One Core and Two Belts.” Over the past two years, the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and the Shanghai Municipal Government have fully implemented the spirits of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech on his inspection tour to Shanghai and the decisions and deployment by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, and comprehensively followed the requirements in the Plan. Hongqiao International Central Business District (hereinafter referred to as the CBD), as the core function bearing area of Hongqiao International Hub for Opening-up, has achieved important phased results in focusing on building an international central business district, building a new platform to serve the international trade center, improving the ability for comprehensive traffic management, and improving the ability to serve the Yangtze River Delta and connect with the world. It is mainly reflected in four aspects.1. Continuously improve core functions and make new progress in building an international CBDThe CBD continued to promote the deep integration of Four Functions, covering grand business, convention and exhibition, transportation, and science and technology, while bolstering core functions and creating new engines for regional economic growth.It made every effort to build a new economic highland for the headquarters economy. It implemented the Hongqiao International Business Partner initiative, and organized the promotion and project signing conference for the Yangtze River Delta Private Enterprise Headquarters Agglomeration Area, the “Rising the Wave of Rising Shanghai, Invest Hongqiao” promotion conference and other activities. It took the initiative to go out of town to hold the Yangtze River Delta Entrepreneur Roundtable, and made targeted efforts to attract private enterprise headquarters, multinational headquarters institutions, and trade-oriented headquarters. It has attracted and cultivated more than 500 headquarters enterprises, including 44 multinational headquarters, 11 foreign-funded R&D centers, 44 private enterprise headquarters and 13 trade-oriented headquarters certified by the city.It made every effort to build the “four high and five new” industrial system. It focused on the high-level headquarters economy, high-spillover-effect exhibition economy, high-traffic trade economy, and high-end service economy to build four 100-billion-yuan-level industrial clusters on trade economy, digital economy, high-end services, and fashion consumption, as well as three 50-billion-yuan-level industrial clusters on new life science technology, new automakers and low-carbon new energy. It continued to empower the platforms such as the Global Digital Trade Port, the Airport Economic Demonstration Zone, and New Hongqiao International Medical Center, in a bid to foster a modern economic system.All economic indicators maintained strong momentum. Since 2021, the CBD’s economy has achieved double-digit growth for two consecutive years. In 2022, tax revenue after deducting the factor of tax refund was 39.871 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.2%. Realized foreign investment jumped by 100% year on year, and total industrial investment increased by more than 60% year on year.2. Fully demonstrate the advantages of openness, and make new breakthroughs in building a new platform for the international trade centerIt benchmarked against international rules and systems with high standards, amplified the spillover effect of the China International Import Expo (CIIE), took innovative approaches on international trade, and promoted the improved allocation of high-end factor resources. In 2022, the total imports and exports of goods were valued at 61.659 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.6%.It continued to amplify the spillover effect of the CIIE. It held two sub-forum sessions on the construction of Hongqiao International Hub for Opening-up under the Hongqiao International Economic Forum in a higher-quality manner. It stepped up efforts to bolster the “6+365” perennial exhibition and sales platform with the Hongqiao Import Commodity Exhibition and Trading Center, gathered more than 90,000 kinds of commodities from over 90 countries or regions, promoted exhibits to become commodities and exhibitors to become investors, and better coordinated “Two Belts” industrial upgrading and consumption upgrading.It benchmarked against international rules to foster trade development in an innovative way. It further promoted the development of the import trade promotion innovation demonstration zone, and carried out the pilot project of domestic and foreign trade integration. It strived to cultivate new international trade such as cross-border e-commerce, offshore trade, and digital trade, and accelerated the development of trade in medical services. A total of 177 enterprises have been recommended to open free trade accounts.It empowered high-quality trade growth with digitalization. It accelerated the construction of Hongqiao International Online New Economy Ecological Park, with a focus on six key areas including digital trade, digital exhibition and digital mobility. It promoted the establishment of a national digital service export base in the Linkong Digital Economy Industrial Park, and actively built a digital empowerment center for trade, with the global digital trade port first taking shape. 3. Optimize key foundational support and achieve new results in improving the function of the comprehensive hub portalIt gave full play to the advantages of the CBD, strengthened institutional and policy innovation, and promoted the interconnection of the Yangtze River Delta. It coordinated the unique government services within the Yangtze River Delta, enhanced key foundational support, and promoted industrial connection, enterprise interaction and resource flows in the Yangtze River Delta.It strengthened institutional and policy support. The Shanghai Regulations on Promoting the Development of Hongqiao International Central Business District were promulgated and implemented to strengthen the legal system support. It compiled and implemented the 14th Five-Year Plan for the CBD, medium- and short-term plan for territorial space, industrial development plan and comprehensive transportation plan, in a bid to draw up a blueprint to manage the entire district and build a collaborative and interconnected planning system. It continued to promote 29 national policies and 20 city-level supporting measures, introduced policies for private enterprise headquarters and trade-oriented headquarters in the CBD, and built a multi-layered policy system. It improved the interconnectivity capacity of the integrated transportation hub. The Shanghai airport signed memorandums of cooperation with Nantong and Jiaxing airports to strengthen cooperation between Hongqiao Airport and surrounding airports. The Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou Railway, a major cross-regional project, started construction. The intercity Jiamin Rail Transit Line, the rail transit linking the city’s two airports, the Demonstration Zone rail transit, as well as western extensions of Shanghai Metro Line 2, Line 13 and Line 17 have been comprehensively constructed. Major transportation projects such as the renovation of the Jiajin section of G15 Highway, the expansion of G50, and the improvement of the traffic function for the western section of the Outer Ring Road have entered preliminary preparations. Tianshan Road West, Shenchang Road and Shenkun Road that link different districts have undergone accelerated construction. It promoted the coordinated development of the CBD and surrounding areas, helping the CBD become a hub of the traffic economy. The comprehensive hub management has been continuously boosted and the emergency management system and mechanism have been further improved.It created a first-class business environment. It realized cross-provincial one-stop services for handling of 50 high-frequency matters in the Yangtze River Delta. It made every effort to build an international central legal district and enabled it to be a new landmark for legal services in China, luring 40 legal services institutions. It explored the establishment of a highland for intellectual property protection in the Yangtze River Delta, and improved the linkage system for intellectual property protection. It fostered high-level construction and operation of Shanghai international technology trading market, attracting international high-quality technology transfer service institutions to gather. It organized the drafting of the guidelines for landscape control in the core area of the CBD and the action plan for the refinement of urban management.4. Stive to strengthen international positioning, and achieve new improvements in the ability to serve the Yangtze River Delta and connect with the world It focused on integration, high quality and internationalization, boosted the intensity of opening up to the rest of China and to the world, and actively built a “bridgehead” for multinational companies to enter China and Chinese enterprises to go global.It further bolstered the hub’s function for two-way opening-up. A total of 35 international trade and investment promotion agencies have settled in Hongqiao Overseas Trade Center, connecting with more than 150 countries and regions, and initially forming a global trade and investment service network. The Greenland Global Commodity Trading Hub has set up 61 national pavilions. It promoted the construction of Shanghai Belt and Road comprehensive service platform, continued to improve the functions of more than 20 professional service platforms such as the Intellectual Property Protection Center and RCEP Enterprise Service Consulting Station, and made every effort to build a professional service system for enterprises going global.It improved the internationalization of public services. It promoted the construction of a talent highland. The national human resources industrial park Hongqiao Park opened. It made full use of the policy effect of the Business District Immigration Policy Pilot Base certified by the National Immigration Administration, and jointly built the Hongqiao Business District Immigration Integration Service Station. The Hongqiao International Business Talent Hub has lured a total of 129 professional institutions to settle in. It promoted the recommendation of high-level foreign talents to apply for permanent residence in China, and started to provide special services such as international school visa processing. A group of foreign schools in the CBD started to independently enroll children of foreigners nationwide.The 2023 Hongqiao International Hub for Opening-up Construction Onsite Conference held on March 1 put forward new and higher requirements to promote the construction of Hongqiao International Hub for Opening-up in a better, faster and higher-quality way. Shanghai will deeply implement the spirits of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, strictly implement the decisions and deployment of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, firmly capture the opportunity to undertake multiple national strategic tasks, deepen the strategic connotation and functional positioning, closely follow the principles of integration, high quality and internationalization, and better serve the Two Belts and the Yangtze River Delta. The city will promote the construction of Hongqiao International Central Business District at a high level, and focus on strengthening the creation of traffic value, promoting the improvement of the headquarters economy, deepening the expansion of the connotation of trade functions, and strengthening urban renewal and infrastructure support. The city will improve the height of the industry, increase the density of the factors, and expand the depth of opening up, create the core functions of the hub, unite all parties to boldly innovate, move forward courageously, and transform the grand blueprint of the Plan into working drawings and real scenes in a bid to make it a vivid practical example of promoting Chinese-style modernization.