Office buildings, shopping malls and hotels have been built in the airport area. CHINA DAILY

Cities supported

Tang Lizhu, chief industrial analyst at the Shanghai ZhongChuang Institute for Industry & Innovation, said export-oriented industries have been developed in the extended hub area since the 1990s, and the area's combined GDP amounts to 2.3 trillion yuan ($350 billion), nearly 10 percent of the delta's total.

The plan includes government support for the area cities of Jiading, Kunshan and Taicang to further develop industrial chains for automobiles, smart manufacturing and new materials. Construction of an international innovation park for internet technology will be pushed forward in Jiaxing, Zhejiang, and pilot zones will be considered in Suzhou, Jiangsu, for internet of vehicles and blockchain technologies.

Tang said, "With the new plan being implemented, cities in the hub area will have more opportunities to attract good projects and further integrate their economic development with Shanghai and the world."

Earmarked for completion in 2035, the hub will become the crossroads for global flows of freight, business, people and capital, according to the blueprint.

To achieve this goal, the plan includes many construction projects for regional railway networks and also outlines a series of favorable policies for regional integration, foreign entrepreneurship, and international trade and finance.

Multinationals are being encouraged to set up global or regional capital management centers in the hub.

Such centers, which are usually based in corporate headquarters, are mainly responsible for managing multinational companies' cash, operating capital, investment, financing, risks and relations with financial institutions.

"However, some multinational companies with extensive global networks set up regional capital management centers to cover the world's major time zones," said Jin Penghui, vice-president of the Shanghai head office of the People's Bank of China.

He said a cluster of capital management centers is conducive to developing the finance industry, economic growth for the areas in which the centers are located, and will provide the impetus for Shanghai to grow into a world financial center.

Another highlight of the plan is piloting real estate investment trusts for infrastructure projects in the hub area.

To better link Hongqiao and neighboring areas of the Yangtze River Delta region, a large number of infrastructure projects are underway. These include the Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou and Shanghai-Jiaxing-Hangzhou high-speed railways, along with extended metro lines better connecting Hongqiao and other areas of Shanghai.

Real estate investment trusts are being introduced to finance infrastructure projects, according to the plan, which is also aimed at attracting high-caliber workers and foreign talent to work and live in the area.

Visas and permanent residence policies will be drawn up for qualified foreign talent, schools will be built for foreigners' children, rules laid down for overseas healthcare professionals practicing in clinics, and approval given for foreign companies to open cultural venues such as theaters, cinemas and concert halls.

Yao Kai, professor of business management at Fudan University, said Shanghai, the Chinese city with the most foreigners, has tested many of the policies to make overseas arrivals feel at home.

"Introducing these policies to the Hongqiao International Hub will make the Yangtze River Delta a magnet for global talent," he added.

The plan states that the authorities will promote the exhibition and convention industry in the region, make full use of the China International Import Expo as a global resource allocation and goods distribution platform, and support companies in the area to open free trade accounts with cross-border finance services.

Chen Weili, deputy director of Hongqiao Central Business District, said it is home to more than 70,000 companies, where 380 of them have established their global or regional headquarters.

"We aim to attract 3,000 companies to settle in the core area of the district and we will build more bonded warehouses and exhibition centers to further enhance the spillover effect of the China International Import Expo," Chen said.