City vows to lead on innovation
Print Edition
SHANGHAI will continue to be a pioneer in policy and other reforms as it seeks to become a hub of innovation with global influence, Mayor Yang Xiong said yesterday at the closure of the 27th forum of the International Business Leaders’ Advisory Council (IBLAC).
“Financial reform, which is part of our efforts to support innovation, will be accelerated in the pilot free trade zone in the city,” Yang said at the forum.
“We have just released a set of new reform plans and they are being readied for implementation,” he said.
Last week, financial regulators agreed to stage more trials in the pilot free trade zone, including experimenting with the yuan’s convertibility under the capital account, driving use of the Chinese currency in cross-border trade, as well as in direct and financial investment.
Also, qualified domestic investors in the zone will be allowed to invest overseas while the foreign issuance of yuan-denominated bonds by companies operating in the zone will be given the go-ahead.
While no timetable has been set for the launch of the trials, Yang said that they will be put in position “when the time is ripe.”
“Shanghai will take full advantage of having a special bonded area in Waigaoqiao, which it will better integrate with the Zhangjiang High-tech Park, and optimize the benefits of policy innovation to make the zone a success,” the mayor said.
“Meanwhile, financial innovation will help to accelerate the government’s reforms,” he said.
At the forum, attended by senior executives from some of the world’s leading multinationals, the mayor said that the city will further cut government bureaucracy, introduce inflexible talent-attracting policies and improve capital markets to support Shanghai’s goal of developing itself into a center of innovation in science and technology with global influence.
Martin Sorrell, chief executive of media services firm WPP and chairman of this year’s council, said Shanghai has laid out “a very comprehensive and all-embracing” strategy for the construction of an international innovation center.
“We are pleasantly surprised by the strategy, which covers nearly all aspects of innovation,” he said.
“The strategy has lifted our expectations to such a high level that the mayor will have an awful lot of work to do,” he said.
Shanghai already has two key elements almost ready, namely the ownership of an accommodative ecosystem and a large talent bank. The only flies in the ointment at present are the city’s high costs of doing business, poor Internet connectivity and “soft power,” Sorrell said.
“We hope Shanghai can engage with the private sector in the construction of a global innovation center,” he said.
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