Shanghai woos investors with new policies

Shanghai yesterday introduced 100 new measures as it continues to play a leading role in the latest opening-up efforts of China.

Under the measures announced by the city government yesterday, Shanghai will encourage foreign investments in the advanced manufacturing sector and push forward the reforms in the automobile, aircraft and shipbuilding industries.

The construction of ports will also be encouraged as the city plans to become an import center for drugs and medical equipment.

Imported cancer drugs, that are not registered in China, will be trialed in Shanghai first before they apply for registration. The same model will be followed for medical equipment for treating serious diseases.

“Shanghai should stay in the forefront of opening-up, and strive to build the city into a powerhouse in the new round of comprehensive opening-up in China. It should be a bridgehead to serve the Belt and Road Initiative, an Asia-Pacific hub to allocate global resources, and a strategic support for China’s development on the world stage,” Li Qiang, the city’s Party secretary, said yesterday.

The implementation of the foreign-funded new-energy automobile projects will be hastened, while foreign auto companies will be encouraged to establish research and development centers and high-end vehicle projects in Jiading District and Lingang area.

Restrictions on foreign investment in the aviation industry will be lifted, cooperation with other nations in the field will be encouraged, and communication abilities and collaboration on talent, technology and management will be enhanced. 

Foreign investment will be invited in some areas of shipbuilding such as high-end ship manufacturing, and design, research and development.

Shanghai international financial center will be upgraded, and intellectual property protection will be improved by working with the judiciary and administration.

Efforts will be made to build new platforms in industries such as financial technology, logistics, education and health care.

Shanghai is also working on developing the business environment by making it more convenient, governed by law and greater international presence.

“We should seize the opportunities from the policies, focus on the 100 new measures, draw up a list of tasks, and ensure that all the measures are implemented effectively,” Li said.

Huangpu moves to lure foreign ventures to Bund

Huangpu District yesterday released a bundle  of 12 policies to attract foreign financial firms to the Bund, the city's century-old financial hub.

The strategy includes providing "bespoke" services to foreign companies in an effort to revitalize the area, which was a major financial center in East Asia for foreign banks and financial institutions early in the last century.

The Bund financial cluster, a 2.6-square-kilometer riverside region along Huangpu River, had 44 foreign financial institutions from 19 countries at the end of 2017, accounting for 11 percent of the city's total. Most of the city's financial firms are based in the Lujiazui financial hub in Pudong across the river.

"The district government will offer bespoke services to each foreign financial firm based on their demands," said Wang Jun, deputy director with the district's finance office.

The policies are part of Shanghai's efforts to further open up its financial sector to foreign capital and encourage foreign banks, securities firms, insurance companies and other financial institutions to base on themselves in the Bund district.

The district government will offer support in various areas, including opening up business, office rental, development awards and services to attract and keep foreign talent.

Those who help bring foreign financial companies to the Bund area will also be rewarded by the district government.

The new guidelines encourage companies already based in Huangpu to join a trial of policies issued by the city government for the Pudong free trade zone and which are now being promoted and copied elsewhere.

World Bank praises Shanghai's business reforms, opening-up

The World Bank has given a strong thumbs-up on Shanghai’s progress in cutting red tape and introducing reforms to improve the business environment over the past year.

The findings in the bank’s latest global assessment are of great significance and further highlight the soft power of Shanghai in the competition among global cities, the Shanghai Development and Reform Commission said Thursday.

“A more international, law-based and convenient business environment is of great importance in boosting market confidence,” said a commission spokesman. “This confidence comes from the predictability for larger enterprises with respect to the freedom of operation, as well as the effectiveness of the deepening the administrative reform of the government in streamlining administration, delegating power, strengthening regulation and improving service.”

China now ranks 46 out of the 190 countries and regions ranked in the World Bank report released late Wednesday, up from 78 last year. As China’s business capital, the bank gives Shanghai a weighting of 55 percent and Beijing 45 percent.

It says Shanghai has made remarkable progress in developing an international, law-based and convenient business environment.

The report says the number of procedures required to start a business in the city has been cut to four from seven and the processing time shortened from 22 days to nine.

The steps for a business to obtain a permanent electricity connection for a newly constructed warehouse has been reduced from five to three, the average time required slashed from 145 days to 34, and the cost for small and micro users cut from 192,000 yuan (US$27,641) to nothing. 

Procedures for construction permits have been reduced from 23 to 19, the processing time from 279 days to 169.5, and the cost from nearly 200,000 yuan to 70,000.

From January to September this year, a total of 307,811 market entities were set up in the city, up 13.9 percent year on year. On average 1,333.5 new enterprises were set up each day, an increase of 12.97 percent year on year.

And the number of new foreign-funded projects, contractual foreign investment and actual foreign capital all grew in the first nine months.

Since entering the new era, the city has thoroughly deepened its reform and opening-up and has scored well in many internationally recognized evaluations.

Shanghai ranked ninth in the Globalization and World Cities Research Network survey, fifth in Long Finance’s Global Financial Centres Index, and fourth in the Global international Shipping Center Index.

“The business environment can always be better,” the commission said.

For the next step, Shanghai will aim to further develop the business environment to be the most convenient for trade and investment, to have the highest administrative efficiency, the best regulated services and management and a perfectly optimized legal system.

Source: SHINE   Editor: Gao Wei

Shanghai among most prepared cities in Asia-Pacific

Shanghai is the third most prepared city in the Asia-Pacific, following Singapore and Melbourne, according to global real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield's inaugural "The Prepped Cities Index," which tracked 17 major business centers in the region based on a wide range of macroeconomic, structural, defensive and social indicators.

The index, designed to demonstrate areas of strength and weakness that cities are exposed to when encountering future uncertainties, looks at eight indicators, including rent volatility, governance, terrorism, talent, and cybersecurity.

"The index uses a combined approach of assessing both built environment and governance and environment factors to help identify which cities are best prepared in deterring and managing a crisis against future uncertainty," said Dominic Brown, head of research, Asia Pacific at Cushman & Wakefield. 

"Given that real estate is a pillar of the regional economy, coupled with the massive amounts of investment in the built environment, the real estate industry can directly play a role in making cities better prepared for the future."

Topping the list as the region's most prepared city, Singapore has ranked in the top two places on three out of the eight indicators, namely sustainability, governance and cybersecurity.

Melbourne has a strong showing across the majority of categories but a lack of new quality office supply to replenish ageing stock and a raft of political changes over the past decade have jointly led it to second place.

"All five Chinese cities we have investigated – Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Hong Kong – ranked among the Top 10, a demonstration of their strength in preparedness to future uncertainties," said James Shepherd, managing director of China Research at Cushman & Wakefield. 

"Shanghai performed exceptionally well as it outshone all the other cities in terms of real estate preparedness, boasting low rent volatility and a robust pipeline of new office supply."

More companies to establish headquarters in Shanghai

Shanghai has granted approval for 30 multinational enterprises to establish their headquarters in the city, and also for 15 research and development centers.

The companies granted certification by the Shanghai Commission of Commerce include BioMerieux, the world’s largest in-vitro diagnostics company; MSC Cruises, the world’s largest family-owned cruise business; InterContinental Hotels Group, the world’s largest international hotel group; AECOM, the world’s largest general architectural and engineering company; world famous fashion luxury brand Coach Group; the world’s largest small and medium-sized display manufacturer Japan Display Inc; the world’s largest toy company Mattel Group, the world’s No.1 perfume company COTY Inc; global memory production leader Kingston Company; and famous Japanese chemical enterprise Kobayashi Pharmaceutical.

Meanwhile, the city’s commerce commission has supported multinationals to set up open innovation platforms, and encouraged foreign R&D centers to participate in major projects. It has also guided social capital to support the industrialization of R&D.

As a result, a large number of R&D centers with strong innovation capability and great international influence have emerged in Shanghai. The 15 R&D centers awarded certification include Valeo Group, the world’s leading supplier of auto parts; Schindler Group, one of the world’s largest producer of elevators and escalators; and Zai Lab, a leading biopharmaceutical enterprise.

Meanwhile, senior government official Tang Zhiping told a forum on Thursday that there will be no end to Shanghai’s efforts to improve its business environment.

“With a focus on the development of the city’s free trade zone, Shanghai will explore more ways to improve its business environment,” said Tang, the secretary general of the Shanghai government.

He was speaking at the Shanghai International Think Tank Summit hosted by the Development Research Center of the local government.

In November, the World Bank released its latest global assessment of business environments, and China now ranks 46 out of the 190 countries and regions, up from 78 last year.

Source: SHINE   Editor: Shen Ke

No end to Shanghai's efforts to improve its business environment

There will be no end to Shanghai's efforts to improve its business environment, senior government official Tang Zhiping said at a forum on Thursday.

“With a focus on the development of the city’s free trade zone, Shanghai will explore more ways to improve its business environment,” said Tang, the secretary general of the Shanghai government.

He was speaking at the Shanghai International Think Tank Summit hosted by the Development Research Center of the local government.

“There is only ‘the present tense’ for Shanghai to make efforts for better business environment, and there will never be ‘the perfect tense’,” Tang said.

The city’s determination and practises have been recognized by market watchers. 

In November, the World Bank released its latest global assessment of business environments, and China now ranks 46 out of the 190 countries and regions, up from 78 last year. 

Among the sub-indexes, the bank gives Shanghai a weighting of 55 percent and Beijing 45 percent for their contributions.

Shanghai has made remarkable progress in developing an international, law-based and convenient business environment. The number of procedures required to start a business in the city has been cut to four from seven and the processing time shortened from 22 days to nine.

From January to September this year, a total of 307,811 market entities were set up in the city, up 13.9 percent year on year. On average 1,333.5 new enterprises were set up each day, an increase of 13 percent year on year.

Also, the city waived 324.8 billion yuan (US$47.3 billion) of corporate taxes in the past six years after it shifted to collect value-added taxes.

“Shanghai’s and China’s success is no small accomplishment,” Marcin Piatkowski, senior economist of the World Bank, said at the forum. “The reforms should not stop, especially as global competition is far from being asleep at the wheel.”

In Piatkowski’s opinion, Shanghai can continue to digitalize the procedure of giving business permits while developing a better system to control risks.

“In some other cities, entrepreneurs can register a company with simply a smartphone,” said Piatkowski.

Yvonne Zhou, partner and managing director at the Boston Consulting Group China, said Shanghai needs to parallel itself with the best global cities when considering further room for improvement in business environment.

Alex Xu, senior partner and vice president of Roland Berger China, said it is important for Shanghai to have a vision for investment in cutting-edge technologies, which helps to attract senior scientists and professionals.

“They are key to enhance the future competitiveness of the city,” Xu said.

Source: SHINE   Editor: Shen Ke

Money floods in to fund city's high-tech plan

Shanghai’s high-tech heartland, the Zhangjiang High Tech Park in the Pudong New Area, has attracted more than 15.4 billion yuan (US$2.23 billion) in investment — including from giants such as Alibaba, ABB and IBM.

The city wants to build Zhangjiang into a “Science and Innovation Hub” to fuel the local economy and transform industry.

Yesterday, a ceremony was held for all companies signing up for new projects or which have already moved in.

Among those signing up was Swiss engineering company ABB, several medical organizations and an artificial intelligence project by Tongji University — for projects worth a total 3.6 billion yuan.

ABB already has a research and manufacturing base for small and medium-sized robots in Zhangjiang — the company’s biggest investment on the Chinese mainland.

A total of 28 companies have already moved in, with investments of 11.8 billion yuan. Among them, IBM has invested US$30 million to set up a local headquarters.

Alibaba has established an innovation center for embedded and artificial intelligence chips. This year, it will start trial production. By 2020, Alibaba will have 700 employees in Zhangjiang.

Source: SHINE   Editor: Wang Qingchu

Foreign investment flocks to Shanghai

Shanghai posted rapid growth in attracting foreign funds in January 2019, with the number of new foreign-funded projects jumping 69.1 percent year on year to 563 in the month.

Total contracted foreign investment in Shanghai surged 197.6 percent to US$10.97 billion, and the actual use of foreign capital rose 33.5 percent to US$1.422 billion, according to data from Shanghai Commission of Commerce.

The robust development of foreign investment in January was boosted by the rapid growth in the foreign-funded services industry, the commission said.

In January, the services sector saw 552 foreign-funded projects newly launched in the city, posting the actual foreign investment of US$1.284 billion, an increase of 24.8 percent over the same period last year. The sector accounted for 90.3 percent of the overall foreign investment to be the main force for growth.

The commercial services industry received US$645 million of foreign investment, an increase of 66.5 percent from a year earlier, accounting for 45.4 percent, while the science and technology services industry attracted US$146 million up 263.8 percent to account for 10.3 percent. The real estate sector and trade were also among the major areas of investment.

The manufacturing sector also saw actual foreign investment surge 315.7 percent to US$126 million, accounting for 8.8 percent of the total.

The manufacturing sector also saw two mega projects: Sisal Chemical received US$58.37 million, and the newly-set-up BH SENS company posted an actual use of US$16.91 million.

Meanwhile, Shanghai witnessed the establishment of four new regional headquarters by multinational corporations, two new foreign investment companies and two more foreign-funded research and development centers. 

By the end of January, a total of 674 regional headquarters of multinational corporations had been set up in Shanghai, among which there were 90 Asia Pacific headquarters.

Shanghai's efforts in optimizing the business environment and enhancing the efficiency of government services were the major driving force for the surge of foreign investment in January, the commission said.

For the year 2018, the city launched a total of 5,567 foreign-funded projects, 41.7 percent higher than the previous year, with the support of the preferential policies Shanghai has released, including the city's "100 measures" aimed at promoting opening-up and making breakthroughs in introducing new foreign investment.

The contractual foreign investment and the actual use posted US$46.937 billion and US$17.3 billion, respectively, up by 16.8 percent and 1.7 percent year on year.

In 2019, the city's commerce commission will continue to organize round tables on government-enterprise cooperation to increase face-to-face communication between government authorities and foreign investors.

Source: SHINE   Editor: Wang Yanlin

Starting a new business in Shanghai easier than ever

People apply for business licenses at the registration center of the Shanghai Market Supervision and Management Bureau. 

Starting up a new business in Shanghai is getting easier and more time efficient.

A total of 555,000 applicants have applied for licenses to start up new businesses via a one-stop service platform the city launched in March last year to cut red tape and improve the business environment, the Shanghai Market Supervision and Management Bureau said on Thursday.

Among them, 371,300 businesses have officially submitted materials and 279,800 have received business licenses, according to the bureau.

The new reform cuts the time of starting a new business in the city to five days from the previous 22.

The one-stop platform merges the systems of different government authorities and allows online application and approval of licenses, company seal making and tax affairs.

It means businesses no longer have to submit several reports to a range of government agencies, including market supervision and management, tax and police, as well as banks. The number of procedures has also been cut.

Under the new system, government departments can share and receive information from businesses at the same time, significantly boosting efficiency.

In Yangpu District, a one-stop company registration center that merges market authorities, banks and seal making services has won the thumbs-up from enterprises.

"In the past, I needed to visit three places to submit materials to the Yangpu District Market Supervision and Management Administrative Service Center first, have company seal made then, and finally open accounts at banks," said head of the Shanghai Leishi Information Science and Technology Co Ltd, surnamed Zhao.

"The center provides a lot of convenience to enterprises, and the business environment of the city is getting better and better," he said.

The Changning District has started a "one license, multiple addresses" trial, exempting companies from the trouble of applying for new business licenses when opening new branches at the same registration departments.

The practice only requires enterprises to submit documents proving the use of relevant venues, and it significantly cuts the materials required, according to the bureau.

"The innovation of policy brings a sense of gain to companies," said Xia Jun, president of Aijun Housekeeping Company, who registered more than 40 business venues of the company in January.

Source: SHINE   Editor: Wang Yanlin

Again, Shanghai ranked top five global financial centers: GFCI

Shanghai was once again ranked as one of the top five financial centers in the world after it overtook Tokyo to move into fifth place of Global Financial Centers last September, a recent report said.

The city remained ahead of Tokyo in fifth place in the index although Tokyo gained 10 points in the ratings, according to the latest edition of the Global Financial Centers Index (GFCI 25), which was co-published by the China Development Institute (CDI) in Shenzhen and Z/Yen Partners, a London-based market research company.

Not for the first time, New York took first place in the index, seven points head of London. Hong Kong was only four points behind London in third and Singapore remained in fourth place.

Toronto rose 27 points and gained four places to seventh. Zurich, Beijing and Frankfurt remained in the top 10, the findings showed.

Among the top five centers, gaps are now being narrowed between the catchers and the leaders. For example, Shanghai was 193 points behind the leader when the index was produced for the first time in 2007, but now it is just 17 points behind.

A total of nine Chinese cities were on the list this time, as a number of secondary centers like Chengdu and Dalian are rising in importance.

The financial center list has grown from 100 to 102 this year and this year’s result showed a continued shift to the Asia/Pacific areas, as the top eight centers in the region are now in the top 15 in the whole index.

Shanghai’s continuously strong position in this index reflects the stability of the city’s financial policies and its continued growth.

Committed to becoming a center of international finance by 2020, the city has always stayed at the forefront of the reform and opening up of China’s financial services and vows to keep playing a pioneering role in this regard in the future.

Local government officials said that so far, Shanghai has made great headway serving the country’s financial reform and opening-up and it has further consolidated its position as a financial center with a relatively complete financial market system.

For instance, nine of the world’s top 10 asset managers opened offices in the Lujiazui financial area and 51 internationally renowned asset management companies set up 69 wholly foreign-owned firms in Shanghai in 2018.

Next, it will strive to enhance the degree of its financial internalization and its global influence, attract more overseas investors to participate in its financial market and further optimize its business climate for the financial sector and improve its capabilities for financial supervision and risk prevention.

GFCI 25 was compiled using 133 instrumental factors in five broad areas of competitiveness: business environment, human capital, infrastructure, financial sector development and reputation.

And these quantitative measures are provided by third parties including the World Bank, The Economist Intelligence Unit, the OECD, and the United Nations and they are complemented with 29,065 financial centre assessments provided by respondents to the GFCI online questionnaire.

The research has been published by Z/Yen since March 2007 and it is now updated twice every year in March and September.

The ranking receives considerable attention from the global financial community and it serves as a valuable reference for policy and investment decisions.

Source: SHINE   Editor: Wang Yanlin

Industrial AI alliance debuts in Shanghai

AI industrial alliance gets founded in Shanghai on Thursday, with 22 members in the first batch. 

An AI industrial alliance was founded in Shanghai on Thursday, another step toward a complete AI ecosystem in the city.

Shanghai AI Development Alliance (SAA) consists of 22 firms, including Baidu, DeepBlue and UCloud, along with the Microsoft Asia Research Center (Shanghai) and ABB, a Swiss-Swedish multinational operating in robotics and automation technology.

Unlike other tech alliances, SAA players from a variety of industries, including automakers, banks, industrial zones and telecommunications carriers.

Shanghai is home to more than 1,000 AI firms. The city generates a huge volume of data each providing huge potential for AI firms, said Zhang Ying, chief engineer of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization.

The local AI industry generated 70 billion yuan (US$10.4 billion) in 2017. Core sectors are expected to produce more than 100 billion yuan by 2020.

Binjiang in Xuhui District and Zhangjiang of the Pudong New Area are leading AI innovation bases, with other developments in Yangpu, Changning, Minhang and Jing'an districts.

AIWIN or Artificial Intelligence World Innovations, a global-oriented AI competition also debuted on Thursday, part of the coming World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai this autumn. AIWIN has invited startups from Israel, France and UK to attend the WAIC event.

Source: SHINE   Editor: Wang Yanlin

Shanghai has leading position on 5G with 500 base stations

In an on-site demo, 5G download speed hit 729 Mbps (Megabits per second) in Shanghai, 30 times faster compared with current 4G networks

Shanghai has become the first city with a trial 5G network with existing 500 5G base stations and various 5G applications, Shanghai Daily learned during a 5G exhibition and summit. 

China Unicom will invest 15 billion yuan (US$2.23 billion) in Shanghai by 2021 on information infrastructure and 5G. Shanghai will become the first city nationwide, among the first batch seven cities, to debut China Unicom’s 5G services, industry officials said during the 5G event, held by China Unicom and Shanghai government.

Shanghai now has more than 500 5G base stations constructed by carriers including China Mobile and China Unicom.

China Unicom, the country’s second biggest carrier, also announced partnership with industry giants, including smart vendor Oppo and online literature service provider China Literature.

Oppo and China Unicom announced in Shanghai on Wednesday to establish a joint innovation center on 5G technologies and application. Both sides also plan to open 100 5G experience centers nationwide, including first two in downtown Shanghai. Oppo will also offer China Unicom 5G versions of its popular models Reno, which boasts the world's first 10x optical zoom lens.

China Literature, handed with China Unicom, kicked off a new smartphone with Kindle-like e-ink screen, which is designed for long-time reading and eye protection. The new “Pocket Reader” phone can store up to 9,000 e-books. It supports 12 million novels licensed by 2,000 publishers with seven languages.

It’s also the latest move for Tencent-invested China Literature to test water in the hardware sector. 

Tech firms including China Unicom, Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, Huawei, ZTE, Oppo, Vivo and Qualcomm attended the show. During smartphone booths, 5G download speed hit 729 Mbps (Megabits per second), 30 times faster compared with current 4G networks. With 5G support, cloud game is showcased, which allows users to play games instantly without downloading applications. 

The three-day event, held in the Shanghai Expo Center, ended on Thursday.

Source: SHINE   Editor: Wang Yanlin

Shanghai Visa Application Procedures

The Shanghai Entry-Exit Administration provides visa services to foreign journalists. The following are the procedures:

A. Journalist’s application for residence permit

Qualifications：
Journalists with J-1 visa

Procedures：
1. Submit the passport and visa for examination;
2. Submit the original copy and a photocopy of the temporary stay proof provided by a hotel or a local police station;
3. Submit the filled visa application form and a recent two-inch passport photo;
4. Submit the health certificate issued by Chinese entry-exit authorities (people under 18 or over 70 exempted);
5. Submit the original copy and a photocopy of the Press Card issued by the local foreign affairs office;
6. Submit the original copy of a proof letter provided by a foreign news organization.
Note:1. First-time applicants aged 16-60 must submit required materials in person. Their colleagues or relatives can help them renew the residence permit afterwards. Health certificates is not required if the renewal is made within three months after the original residence permit expires;
2. The entry-exit administration may ask to interview the applicant when it thinks it necessary, or ask for additional materials, such as fingerprints or written statements. If a journalist fails to come for interview or provide required materials, except for force majeure, his application will be rejected;
3. The entry-exit administration’s decision to refuse extending, changing or reissuing a common visa and to refuse granting or renewing a foreign journalist’s residence permit is final.

B. Application for J-2 visa

I Qualifications：
Journalists with J-2 visa for short-term reporting in China.

Procedures：
1. Submit the passport and visa for examination;
2. Submit the original copy and a photocopy of the temporary stay proof provided by a hotel or a local police station;
3. Submit the filled visa application form and a recent two-inch passport photo;
4. Submit approval letters issued by the Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Foreign Affairs Office of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government
Note:1. The entry-exit administration may ask to interview the applicant when it thinks it necessary, or ask for additional materials, such as fingerprints or written statements. If a journalist fails to come for interview or provide required materials, except for force majeure, his application will be rejected;
2.The entry-exit administration’s decision to refuse extending, changing or reissuing a common visa and to refuse granting or renewing a foreign journalist’s residence permit is final.

Application Venue & Hours

9am-5pm, Monday-Saturday (no interview on Saturday) 
1500 Minsheng Road, Pudong New Area
Seven working days required if all materials are received.
Shanghai Entry-Exit Administration hotline: 28951900
Web：http://crj.police.sh.cn/eemis_tydic/jx_type_en.jsp

The Shanghai district aiming to rival the financial hubs in New York and London

More than half of the 1.65m sq m of Pudong’s new office supply in the next five years will come from Qiantan, Shanghai’s second financial district south of the core Lujiazui area

Shanghai’s core Lujiazui financial district with the Jin Mao Tower in the foreground and the Oriental Pearl Tower behind. Photo: Bloomberg

Twelve kilometres south of Shanghai’s financial hub of Lujiazui, workers are putting the finishing touches to a glitzy-looking office tower designed to resemble a crystal which dominates the skyline.

The futuristic-looking edifice designed by American developer Tishman Speyer is part of a grand plan known as “the second Lujiazui”, reflecting its planners’ ambitions to rival Manhattan and London

Called Qiantan, gleaming new area is aimed at appealing to multinational and financial firms, especially, looking for an alternative far costlier and crowded Lujiazui.

Of the 1.65 million square metres of new office space planned in Pudong, across the Huangpu River from the city’s historic Bund, over the next five years, more than half is earmarked for Qiantan, according to Colliers International.

In contrast, the core Lujiazui area will supply just 310,000 square metres.

In the heart of Qiantan, four overseas developers – Tishman Speyer, Swire Properties, Hongkong Land and Shun Tak Holdings – have already formed partnerships with the biggest landlord, the Shanghai government-owned Lujiazui Group to create mixed-used complexes.

Its current high concentration of overseas developers is a rarity in China, which are normally dominated by local firms.

The first developer to break ground in Qiantan was Tishman Speyer which built the stunning Crystal Plaza. The retail part has already managed to lure in its first batch of tenants including a cinema, an upscale supermarket and a gym.

US conglomerates United Technologies Corporation and medical equipment maker Medtronic, and Germany’s Covestro are expected to become tenants of the office part of the bustling new commercial complex, according to property agents.

“Our target tenants include high-end financial and ancillary services, advanced manufacturing and technology firms. We are negotiating leases with medical, auto and other manufacturing companies from the US, Europe and Middle East,” said Wilson Chen, Tishman Speyer China’s chief investment officer, declining to specify any names, however.

He said Lujiazui Group undertook the planning and development of the site, while Tishman Speyer was responsible for its design, securing global tenants and managing the assets.

Crystal Plaza in Qiantan. Photo: Handout

In February, Swire Properties paid 1.35 billion yuan (US$210 million) for a 50-per cent stake in Shanghai Qianxiu, a company that holds the land use rights to a retail site in Qiantan, from state-owned Shanghai Newbund Company that will build a 116,000 sq m retail development, becoming the Hong Kong-based developer’s second retail project in Shanghai after HKRI Taikoo Hui in Puxi opened in November.

The 2.8 square kilometre Qiantan area is connected by three metro lines, sits next to the Oriental Sports Centre and is near the former World Expo 2010 site.

Property consultants say there’s little life after office hours in the core Lujiazui district. Photo: Reuters

What the Lujiazui area lacks as a district, Qiantan’s planners have taken pains not to make the same mistakes.

“It is the first zone that the Lujiazui Group has taken overall planning from the outset, which took into account connectivity, integrated development and amenities,” said Timothy Chen, a research director for East China at Colliers International.

“Lujiazui’s issue is the lack of amenities. Outside of working hours there is relatively little reason to go there,” said James Macdonald, senior director of Savills China Research. “But with residential communities and retail space, Qiantan will be a vibrant community that is live 24/7.”

A stone’s throw from the office buildings is an international school – the Shanghai outlet of England’s famous Wellington College public school, for instance. New York University Shanghai is also planned as are a hospital to be run by Raffles Medical Group, and a Shangri-La Hotel.

With residential communities and retail space, Qiantan will be a vibrant community that is live 24/7James Macdonald, Savills China Research

As a clear sign so far of Qiantan’s growing draw, the launch of a residential development by Joy City Property in April attracted an overwhelming 3,100 bids for the 437 units up for sale. Several residential projects by Tishman Speyer, Lujiazui and other developers will be opened to buyers this year.

Colliers’ Chen said financial, audit and law firms, as well as technology companies are expected to further drive office space demand in the area.

In a report, his consultancy said Qiantan could also benefit from a spillover effect from the former World Expo site, which is mainly home to state-owned enterprises.

While Qiantan will have a cost advantage against established business districts in the city, it will still find competition fierce with massive supply set to come on stream in other decentralised areas, where in some cases, amenities and transport networks are even more established, the report added.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Shanghai’s answer to Manhattan in the makingShanghai’s answer to Manhattan in the making