THE Changning govern­ment has issued a package of policies to support industry development in the district.

The new policies cover five areas including industrial development, science and technology innovation, human resources and financial support.

All details will be published through official WeChat ac­counts, including “Shanghai Changning,” and the public account of each government agency involved.

Aviation services, the “head­quarters economy,” financial service clusters, culture, ter­tiary industries, information consumption and e-commerce are among the business sec­tors covered by the policies.

Amid approval by the cen­tral government to establish Hongqiao Aviation Service Pilot Zone to provide services such as aircraft repairs and sales, air transport, air freight and air ticket distribution, Changning has introduced a trading platform for de­rivatives like fuel, materials, communication and aeronauti­cal networking to serve central government owned enter­prises, industry top-50 private firms and Fortune Global 500 enterprises.

Changning offers financial support for aircraft leasing, repairs, personnel training and mergers and acquisitions in the industry.

Moreover, the headquarters of multinational conglom­erates, large state-owned enterprises and top-50 private firms with revenue of 50 million yuan (US$7.23 mil­lion) or more will receive subsidies from the Changning government.

Financial institutions which settle down in Changning can enjoy government aid of 3 percent of their registered capital, or up to 10 million yuan in total.

For companies in the service sector, Changning of­fers voluntary funding of 20 percent of their investment, or up to 3 million yuan, in each key project.

Information consumption and e-commerce enterprises can enjoy similar sponsorship from the government, accord­ing to the policies.

To encourage science and technology innovation, the Changning government has is­sued a stimulus package worth hundreds of millions of yuan this time around. Individu­als, small and medium-sized enterprises, time-honored brands and trademarks, inventions, as well as science and technology start-ups can receive financial aid equalling up to millions of yuan.

Changning is also offering financial incentives to at­tract high-level domestic and overseas talent. The district has allocated special funds for the development of human resources and financial aid of­fered to professionals in need.

Apart from financial sup­port, leading talents and those with good work performance may also enjoy a wide vari­ety of privileges in terms of relocation, housing, healthcare and schooling.

The new policy also boosts financial support to start-up businesses. Changning will cooperate with domestic and overseas hedge funds to support emerging industries and start-up businesses in key industries to upgrade the district’s economy.

Industrial parks, incubators, accelerators and co-working spaces will offer start-ups sup­port in the form of consulting, mentoring, prototype creation and related services, and co-funding.

Changning has outlined its economic future through the issuance of its latest industry develop­ment guidance catalog.

The document is divided into 36 industries, including aviation services, information services, modern commerce and trade, professional services, financial services, social services, exhibition and tourism, high tech industries, bio-medicine, energy saving and environmental protection. The catalog covers the industrial base of Changning and most aspects of its future development.

Authorities in the district are using an “encour­aged” list to build a local industry system to further optimize the industrial structure with a modern service sector as its main driver, while also promot­ing the development of creative industries.

Big ambitions

Businesses on the “encouraged” list of the guidance catalog are classified in three levels of sig­nificance. Those that authorities are giving priority to in their development are leading industries with huge potential. They are also major taxpayers with strong innovation capabilities.

Areas that Changning is “focused on” developing are mainly upstream and downstream enterprises of leading firms. They play significant roles in promoting the regional economy.

Businesses that Changning “supports” are those which play supporting roles in regional economic development.

The aviation service industry will take a leading role in Changning’s development during the period of 13th five-year-plan.

Changning plans to turn the Hongqiao Avia­tion Service Pilot Zone into a business hub in the Asia-Pacific region, making it an economic highland integrated with financial services, information services, modern trade and commerce.

The pilot zone will include a cluster of tax and duty free vendors, business aircraft industry and supporting financial services, professional aviation services and air freight.

The municipal government has given Changning the green light to set up the city’s first pilot zone for the Internet plus-based service industry in an attempt to foster 20 international brands and 100 elite service companies by 2018.

The planned zone is about 37 square kilometers in size, covering the whole district. Administrative approval is not required to set up a service com­pany in the zone.

Those engaged in healthcare, health product sales and waste recycling will have a lower threshold as well.

Furthermore, Linkong Industrial Park in the west of Changning is a national e-commerce demonstra­tion base that’s also an ideal platform for the pilot zone.

Fashion hub

Changning plans to build its fashion and creative industry cluster into an icon of Shanghai. Fashion design, new media, film and television, entertain­ment and performance, as well as exhibition will be the major businesses here.

Shanghai Fashion Industry Park on Tianshan Road is an industry technology service platform and demonstration base covering fashion, culture and style industries, with five major functions, including fashion design, fashion shows and branding.

In the park there are a number of fashion, clothing and creative design companies. Several or­ganizations in the fashion industry have also set up offices there, including the Chinese secretariat of the Asia Fashion Federation and the Shanghai office of the China Fashion Association. There is also a visual art center named “No.5 Workshop,” a multi­media database and exchange facilities, making a public service platform for the exhibition, research, development, negotiation, training, and information exchange of fashion brands.