The new urban space has become the "main battlefield" in Shanghai's investment field, and the investment growth rate of the Lingang New Area of the Free Trade Zone will reach 62% in 2021

21st Century Business Herald reporters Xu Qiulian and Bu Yuqin reported from Shanghai

It has been more than two years since the COVID-19 pandemic has comprehensively affected global economic and social development and people's daily lives. For more than two years, all walks of life across the country have been actively responding to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, and the local economy has also recovered compared with the early stage of the epidemic.

On January 18, 2022, Shanghai issued the "Several Policy Measures for Expanding Effective Investment and Stabilizing Economic Development in Shanghai in 2022" (hereinafter referred to as "Policy Measures (2022)"). The release of the "Policy Measures (2022)" has increased from the four aspects mentioned in the original 2020 version of the policy to five aspects, upgrading and setting up a separate chapter for "creating a new space for urban development" that was originally in the process of stimulating social investment vitality.

"The new urban space is the 'main battlefield' in the field of investment in Shanghai this year and in the future, and will stage the 'highlight' of expanding effective investment." The relevant person in charge of the Shanghai Development and Reform Commission pointed out in an interview with the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that Shanghai will continue to increase the construction investment of new urban development spaces in the fields of transportation, ecological environment, new infrastructure, social and people's livelihood, create the most dynamic and important growth level of urban development, and provide a strong guarantee for the realization of Shanghai's higher economic and social development.

New urban space is the "main battlefield" for Shanghai investment in the future

Zeng Gang, deputy director of the National Finance and Development Laboratory and director of the Shanghai Finance and Development Laboratory, said in an interview with the 21st Century Business Herald that the current economy is in an unstable state, and some new stimulus measures are needed to maintain stable economic growth. The issuance of this document by Shanghai should be said to be opportune, which is also a correct direction to deal with the current economic situation. He also believes: "When the relevant investment initiatives are completed, a number of cities will follow the pace of Shanghai." ”

The release of the "Policy Measures (2022)" has been increased from the original four aspects to five aspects, which will accelerate the promotion of urban renewal, upgrade and set up a separate chapter to create a new space for urban development.

"The new urban space is the 'main battlefield' in the field of investment in Shanghai this year and in the future, and will stage the 'highlight' of expanding effective investment." The relevant person in charge of the Shanghai Development and Reform Commission told the 21st Century Business Herald that Shanghai will continue to increase the construction investment of new urban development spaces in the fields of transportation, ecological environment, new infrastructure, social and people's livelihood, accelerate the gathering of key industries, increase the intensity and density of regional investment, create the most dynamic and important growth level of urban development, and provide a strong guarantee for the realization of Shanghai's higher economic and social development.

Judging from the 2022 version of the policy document, creating a new space for urban development contains a total of 7 major policy measures, involving the implementation of major strategic plans of many countries such as Pudong New Area, Lingang New Area of Free Trade Zone, Yangtze River Delta Integrated Development Demonstration Zone, and Hongqiao International Open Hub.

The person in charge revealed that key areas such as Pudong New Area, Lingang New Area of Free Trade Zone, Yangtze River Delta Integrated Development Demonstration Zone, and Hongqiao International Open Hub are important bearing areas for the implementation of major national strategies, and in recent years, they have played the role of ballast stone in total investment and accelerated in investment growth. For example, the total investment in Pudong New Area accounts for nearly 30% of the city's total, and the investment growth rate of the Lingang New Area of the Free Trade Zone will reach 62% in 2021.

Taking Pudong New Area as an example, the "Policy Measures (2022)" pointed out that pudong new area should be fully promoted to build a leading area for modernization construction. Accelerate the construction of an international financial asset trading platform. Accelerate the agglomeration of key industries, promote major projects, and build a world-class innovation industry cluster. Concentrate on starting construction of a number of major projects, continue to promote the construction of the zhangjiang comprehensive national science center and the third phase of the expansion of the Bailonggang sewage treatment plant, and start the construction of a comprehensive transportation hub in Pudong.

Not only Pudong New Area, but also the five new cities are also important potentials in Shanghai's future economic and social development.

The 21st Century Business Herald reporter noted that Shanghai has also recently introduced a new talent settlement policy on accelerating the construction of new cities. "The construction of the five new cities is a new era for Shanghai to start suburban construction, and at present, we are focusing not only on the urban area, but also on the development of key suburban areas." Zeng Gang told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that the new policy of talents settling in the five new cities is not only to increase the population, but the five new cities provide a new growth pole for Shanghai.

This year, Shanghai's major projects plan to complete an investment of more than 200 billion yuan

The 21st Century Business Herald reporter noted that this is the second time since the new crown pneumonia epidemic that Shanghai has issued relevant special policies to help expand effective investment and stabilize economic development.

As early as April 2020, Shanghai issued the "Several Policies and Measures for Expanding Effective Investment and Stabilizing Economic Development in Shanghai" (hereinafter referred to as "Policy Measures (2020)").

The relevant person in charge of the Shanghai Development and Reform Commission introduced to the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that at the beginning of the introduction of the "Policy Measures (2020)", it assisted major project construction enterprises to raise epidemic prevention materials through multiple channels; relying on the Yangtze River Delta regional cooperation mechanism, coordinating policy measures such as cross-provincial and regional epidemic prevention materials and construction material allocation, and fully promoting the resumption of major projects.

Judging from the data, in mid-March of that year, major projects in Shanghai achieved a comprehensive resumption of work, and 40 newly started projects and 19 completed projects were completed throughout the year. During the epidemic period, enterprises exempted themselves from paying land lease fees, deferred payment of residential supporting fees, opened green channels for financial services, increased credit support, and promoted the approval of "One Netcom Office" and other policy measures, which played a positive role in expanding effective investment and maintaining stable economic development in that year.

Especially in terms of fixed investment, in 2020, Shanghai's fixed asset investment in the whole society increased by 10.3% year-on-year, ranking the forefront of the country. In 2021, it is expected that the fixed asset investment of shanghai in the whole society will grow by about 8%, higher than the national average of 4.9%.

The 21st Century Business Herald reporter found that the "Policy Measures (2022)" is also clear in terms of major project investment, and in 2022, Shanghai plans to complete the investment of more than 200 billion yuan. In the first half of the year, we will strive to complete an investment of more than 100 billion yuan, an increase of 10% over last year. Among them, the planned investment in the first quarter is more than 40 billion yuan; the planned investment in the second quarter is more than 60 billion yuan.

"We are now in an era of great change, and there are many new areas waiting for us to expand in this period. New areas must have new supporting conditions, including infrastructure, institutional mechanism construction, etc. Zeng Gang pointed out.

The "Policy Measures (2022)" also emphasizes that infrastructure investment should be carried out in a moderately advanced manner. Wang Huajie, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission, said at a press conference on January 18 to introduce the "Policy Measures (2022)" that today's infrastructure investment is a strong support for tomorrow's urban economic and social development. Appropriately advanced infrastructure investment is an important part of expanding effective investment, and it is also an inherent requirement for strengthening existing economic advantages and strengthening the momentum of future development.

It is reported that from January to November 2021, Shanghai's urban infrastructure growth rate was 9.3%, and the average growth rate of the two years was higher than the national average. After years of large-scale investment, Shanghai has basically built a "hub-type, functional, networked" infrastructure system, in the field of transportation, the construction of the urban railway airport liaison line, Jiamin line, Chongming line accelerated construction, the second phase of the Shanghai-Shanghai Railway and the Shanghai-Suzhou Lake Railway have been started, 20 urban rail transit lines have been opened, and the central city cross-river channel has formed a pattern of "4 bridges and 15 tunnels". In the field of ecological environment, the construction of Zhuyuan-Bailonggang sewage connection pipe and the expansion project of Taihe sewage plant were started, and the North Park of the Expo Cultural Park has been opened to the public.

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