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Nanjing Rd shop assistants need to learn about service
By Wang Yong |
August 20, 2009, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SHANGHAI is facing a double whammy: a shrinking land reserve versus a ballooning population.
Xinhua news agency reported yesterday that the number of Shanghai's residents (excluding a transient population) had hit a record high of 20 million. From 2000 to 2008, Shanghai saw a net growth of 350,000 people every year, a scale similar to that of many smaller cities.
Xinhua quoted Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng as saying that Shanghai had used up 2,860 hectares of land for construction purposes to date. That's not far from the 2,980 hectares the central government allows Shanghai to develop by 2020.
Han was speaking at a conference of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai People's Congress on Tuesday. "Shanghai must substantially change its economic growth model" to further tilt toward service, Han said. Indeed, no city can count on a construction mania as seen in Shanghai for sustainable growth.
Han can't be more correct in his effort to have Shanghai's "weak leg" of service strengthened, especially when the city's "stronger leg" of industry slumped in the first quarter due to the global economic crisis. But strengthening service is not just about numbers - how much more service contributes to Shanghai's GDP.
My shopping experience on Nanjing Road, one of the most prosperous commercial districts in Shanghai, says a lot about why Shanghai's leg of service is so weak.
Most shopping assistants there give you the cold shoulder as if you owe them a million yuan. They smash receipts or change on the counter as soon as you extend your hand to receive them. You thank them first and then find they never reciprocate.
Shanghai won't have a strong leg of service if these shopping assistants keep dragging their feet.
Xinhua news agency reported yesterday that the number of Shanghai's residents (excluding a transient population) had hit a record high of 20 million. From 2000 to 2008, Shanghai saw a net growth of 350,000 people every year, a scale similar to that of many smaller cities.
Xinhua quoted Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng as saying that Shanghai had used up 2,860 hectares of land for construction purposes to date. That's not far from the 2,980 hectares the central government allows Shanghai to develop by 2020.
Han was speaking at a conference of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai People's Congress on Tuesday. "Shanghai must substantially change its economic growth model" to further tilt toward service, Han said. Indeed, no city can count on a construction mania as seen in Shanghai for sustainable growth.
Han can't be more correct in his effort to have Shanghai's "weak leg" of service strengthened, especially when the city's "stronger leg" of industry slumped in the first quarter due to the global economic crisis. But strengthening service is not just about numbers - how much more service contributes to Shanghai's GDP.
My shopping experience on Nanjing Road, one of the most prosperous commercial districts in Shanghai, says a lot about why Shanghai's leg of service is so weak.
Most shopping assistants there give you the cold shoulder as if you owe them a million yuan. They smash receipts or change on the counter as soon as you extend your hand to receive them. You thank them first and then find they never reciprocate.
Shanghai won't have a strong leg of service if these shopping assistants keep dragging their feet.
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