PUTUO District, the western gateway of Shanghai, is making full preparations to welcome visitors from all around the world for the upcoming first China International Import Expo.

Though the district does not serve as the main site for the expo, it aims to showcase its many advantages.

The district, in the western downtown, is featured by its regional superiority. The region is an important gateway to connect other Yangtze River Delta cities and influence the whole country. Five Metro lines in operation — Line 3, 4, 7, 11 and 13 — and two lines currently under-construction — the planned Line 20 and 22 — run through the district.

The intercity high-speed railway between Shanghai and Nanjing in neighboring Jiangsu Province, interchanges with many of the city’s Metro lines at the Shanghai West Railway Station. The Hongqiao traffic hub is 10 kilometers away from Putuo, while the Pudong airport is 50 kilometers away.

The district along the Suzhou Creek is also full of cultural resources. A 14.3-kilometer-long section of the creek, known as the “mother river” of the city, runs through Putuo. Over 20 features of the area’s industrial heritage, such as the city’s earliest flour and match plants as well as its first beer brewery, can be seen along the 18 bays of the creek. The riverside region was once the birthplace of China’s national industry.

In recent years, Putuo has been integrating technological and innovative power into its transformation of industrial structures. It focuses on key projects such as the Taopu Smart City, Shanghai Scientific Finance Industry Zone, Zhenru Sub-Center and Changshou commerce and business zone, while driving key industries such as intelligent software, research and development services and scientific finance.

Thirteen national research institutes, 19 industrial parks and 79 key office buildings are based in Putuo. It has attracted many regional headquarters of companies on commerce and trade such as METRO, Carrefour and NGS Supermarket Group. The Global Harbor Mall in Putuo has become the largest downtown shopping mall and a recreational landmark.

An expo that never ends

Putuo has widely promoted the expo among enterprises and encouraged them to actively participate in the event. The retail giant Metro, Fumanjia, Yuexing Group and other companies have joined the Shanghai Trade Group’s four major buyer alliances.

An innovation and design forum themed on “Design makes better life” has been selected as one of the supplement events to the expo and will be held at the National Convention and Exhibition Center on November 8. The forum is jointly organized by the Yuexing Group and the Designers Committee of the Furniture and Decoration Industry Association under the National Federation of Industry and Commerce.

The district’s commerce committee also helped to realize the city’s ambition to make the expo without an ending. It has supported the business and commerce headquarters to set up perennial trading platforms for high-quality imported products, along with the new products launching platform.

Two platforms, the cross-border e-commerce public service platform of Shanghai Northwest Logistics Park and the Oriental International Import Commodity Country Exhibition Center, have been selected as permanent exhibition and trade platforms for the expo.

Furthermore, the city’s first Portuguese import home bonded exhibition center opened on July 1 at the Yuexing Furniture on Aomen Road. In addition, from mid-October to mid-November, Global Harbor Mall will host a “Global Life Expo,” featuring themes that include Japan, South Korea, Europe, Italy, Fashion Mix and Indian products.

Putuo has also planned 30 key investment promotion activities and 45 tour routes for participants to the expo. They include the China-Israel innovation cooperation and exchange activities, ìCharming Putuoî serial activities and the global retail e-commerce China summit which has attracted hundreds of guests from over 20 countries. Three tour routes aim to showcase the scientific finance, Changshou Bay cultural creation and intelligent retail of Putuo.

Touring route for expo participants

Putuo has unveiled investment promotion events and sightseeing routes prepared for expo participants at an investment exchange conference ahead of the fair. The efforts aim to further promote the business environment of Putuo and strengthen the exchange between the district and trade groups at the import expo.

Three sightseeing routes have been designed. The first route is designed to showcase the district’s technology  and finance industry. It starts at the Shanghai science and technology industry zone, along the China blockchain application research center to reach the M&A Financial Museum and the Shanghai Convention and Exhibition Center of International Sourcing.

Participants can visit the Shanghai Science and Technology Financial Industry Park to learn the state-of-art technologies on cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence and blockchain, as well as feel the unique charm of Putuo’s technology finance.

The second route is a cultural and creative journey of Changshou Bay along Suzhou Creek. The place is home to Shanghai’s popular century-old temple, the Jade Buddha Temple, the contemporary art kingdom, M50 cultural and creative park and historical sites of the country’s earliest industries such as Suzhou Creek Textile Museum, the Mint Factory, and other industrial heritage sites.

As a highlight attraction, the Mengqing Garden of the creek features three parts: the “big fish” island, an artificial wetland and an exhibition hall. The water of the creek flows through the park to get purified by the water plants and soil on the artificial island. The expo participants can learn about the cultural brand of the “18 Bay of Suzhou Creek” and feel the century-old industrial civilizations and the development of Putuo.

The third route will showcase Putuo’s intelligence, eco-friendly campaign and innovation. The route starts from the Taopu Smart City Planning and Exhibition Hall. Participants will be invited to visit the Taopu Central Greenbelt, Shanghai’s largest downtown public greenbelt to cover 500,000 square meters upon completion in 2020, where they can overlook the city being developed on the former industrial site plants.

Visitors can learn about the creative, humanistic and ecologic features of the city. Cutting-edge technologies involved in the project, such as its integrated pipelines, distributed energy resources, sponge city and the wide application of Building Information Technology.

In the future, the smart city will focus on the intelligent technology to mainly serve the Yangtze River Delta Region, along with a series of supportive policies. The initial phase of greenbelt will open to the public soon. 

Civilization campaigns

The Putuo office of the spiritual civilization steering committee has been encouraging residents to take part in voluntary services to support the expo. A series of demonstrative roads and regions have been created across the district to regulate pedestrians and cyclists.

Twenty such model roads and 40 intersections have been developed across Putuo. The traffic police will enhance law enforcement on these regions to educate the traffic violators. A monthly evaluation shows the behavior of pedestrians and cyclists on these roads has been continuously improved.

A wall painting project has also been launched to improve the image of roadside structures and public facilities. The Putuo government has launched a campaign against abandoned vehicles, illegal advertisements, unlicensed small businesses, littering on street corners and public stairways to gear up for the expo.

Publicity on the expo has also been enhanced with flag banners on six thoroughfares, such as Daduhe, Wuning and Caoyang roads. Videos about the expo have been broadcasted repeatedly at Global Harbor Mall, MTR City Plaza and other popular shopping malls.

Eleven professional volunteer teams have been organized in Putuo on emergency rescue, legal assistance, financial investment and Internet information. Citizens were invited to experience the work of police officers and cleaners as well as take part in a plogging campaign to pick up litter on streets while out jogging.

A student volunteer team has been organized at Putuo schools to encourage the students to serve as young hosts to the expo.

The district has launched a  selection campaign to award warm-hearted citizens and popular service staff. A series of training and skills competition have been organized to optimize the service environment and enhance the service standard.

Street garden and scenic roads

A number of colorful street gardens and clean roads have been developed across Putuo to showcase its delicate, high-standard urban management as well as high-quality development and life. To better prepare for the expo, Putuo is renovating a series of greenery gardens and developing some roads into scenic streets.

Putuo has finished renovating 15 corner gardens and 17 greenery sculptures. Another 10 street gardens are expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Seven road sections along the city inner and middle ring roads, 10 kilometers in total, have been adorned with flower boxes. The district has removed 489 illegal advertisement boards and renovated 317 outdoor billboards to improve the image.

To create a happy ambience for the expo, decorative lamps are hanging along four major roads in Putuo with the themes of ìharmonic, elegant, charming and beautiful.î The lamps on 45 office buildings and a landmark preserved industrial chimney along Suzhou Creek have also been illuminated with lamps.

The district has improved the efficiency of cleaners with cutting-edge equipment, improved cleaning methods and enhanced supervision. Five demonstrative zones featuring clean roads and environment are being created in Putuo.

The Putuo government is promoting garbage sorting among residents to achieve a goal to recycle 35 percent of the daily garbage by 2020. A total of 119 recycling stations were built in the district between January and September this year.

Over 18,753 tons of glass, plastic, milk box and wooden materials have been collected through these stations. Garbage houses at residential neighborhoods have been renovated to be able to recycle useful materials.

Furthermore, the district has improved the daily maintenance for its abundant waterways. There are 58 rivers and creeks under the jurisdiction of Putuo, extending over 86 kilometers, the third longest among downtown districts.