Shanghai, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai has been called by foreign scholars as "a key" to interpreting modern China. At the same time, Shanghai is also the vanguard of China's reform and opening up and the forerunner of innovation and development. After 40 years of reform and opening up, hundreds of thousands of foreigners now live in Shanghai, and the Shanghai they see as a legend is constantly writing.
1984: Witnessing the "First"
A yellowed business license bears witness to a unique history of foreign-funded enterprises in the early days of China's reform and opening up.
On November 10, 1984, 3m China Co., Ltd. was incorporated in Shanghai. This is the first wholly foreign-owned enterprise established outside of China's four special economic zones after the reform and opening up.
The business license records that the company's registered place at that time was located at No. 40 Minsheng Road. The company rented a small factory of tens of square meters plus offices, a total of more than ten employees.
This year, Stephen Schaefer was a 9-year-old child and did not know that one day he would become the president of 3m Greater China. Two years ago, Stephen came to China and had his own Chinese name "Xie Siming". He said that 3m's relationship with China's reform and opening up is "older than my seniority", as early as the early 1970s, when the company's senior management visited China to discuss cooperation.
3m Greater China President Xie Siming. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Di Chun
What is more significant is that on November 10, 1984, the day of the birth of this business license, the staff of 3m was holding a product seminar with the Shanghai Electric Power Bureau at that time. So the staff left such a group photo, the back of the photo read: "The power product seminar was held on the same day as the 3m China business license." ”
Also in 1984, Japanese student Kazuyuki Katayama, who was studying in Beijing, made his first trip to Shanghai. "Now that I live in Shanghai, 34 years later, I am amazed by the changes." Kazuyuki Katayama, who has become consul general of the Japanese Consulate General in Shanghai, said, "I still remember that in the early days it took 15 hours to travel from Beijing to Shanghai by sleeper train, but now it takes only 4 hours and 40 minutes to take the high-speed rail 'Fuxing' in the same section." ”
Consul General of the Consulate General of Japan in Shanghai Kazuyuki Katayama attends cultural events in Shanghai. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Ying
According to the Consulate General, there were about 150 Japanese living in Shanghai for more than three months in 1978, and by 2017 that number had grown to about 43,000. Katayama said that Shanghai is very close to Japan and the investment environment is excellent, so many Japanese companies choose to invest in Shanghai, and the number of Japanese expatriates in Shanghai has increased rapidly.
They are participants and witnesses, contributors and beneficiaries
Anker, a German, came to Shanghai slightly later than Consul General Katayama, and his association with the city began in the late 1990s as a short study at the University of Foreign Chinese in Shanghai.
"20 years ago, the Oriental Pearl Radio and Television Tower was the tallest landmark in the Lujiazui area; from Lujiazui, on the way to the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, you can see some empty areas with very few people; but today, most of Pudong is very prosperous." Anker sighed.
In 2006 he became Chief Representative of the Hamburg Liaison Office in Shanghai. On weekdays, he used to take the subway to work. The metro, which was piloted in Shanghai in the 1990s, benefited from German technology, and today Shanghai has the longest operating urban metro network in the world.
Anker (first from left), a German and chief representative of hamburg's liaison office in Shanghai, presided over the launch of the New Year's fair in Shanghai. Image courtesy of hamburg's liaison office in Shanghai
In the past 40 years of reform and opening up, foreign-funded enterprises have been important participants, witnesses, contributors and beneficiaries. Over the past 40 years, China's economy has continued to grow at a high speed. The "2017 China Resident Consumption Development Report" shows that in recent years, the consumption of Chinese residents has entered an important stage of sustained growth in consumer demand, accelerated upgrading of consumption structure, and significantly enhanced the role of consumption-driven economy.
Xie Siming's 3m company sells a variety of innovative products to China, among which the most popular among Chinese consumers are water purifiers, masks, and cleaning cloths. These are directly or indirectly changing the lives of Chinese. Today, the company's business in China also involves industrial security and data center equipment cooling solutions.
Foreign investment projects in China have gradually expanded from the original production and manufacturing field to the modern service industry. For example, In 2013, Deshijia Eye Clinic was allowed to open a private clinic in Shanghai, China, which is a new type of business.
Guo Weicheng, a Frenchman and general manager of Shanghai Disney Resort, also confirmed that disney companies considered introducing resort business to Chinese mainland as early as the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.
"The first considerations include the huge potential of the Chinese market, the rapid transformation of the economic model, and the rapid growth of the middle-income group. These factors made us believe in the long-term potential of the Chinese market and were the main reason why we finally decided to enter the Chinese market. He said.
According to the data, Shanghai Disneyland received more than 11 million visitors in the first year of its opening.
Every day is new: new mobile technology surprises us
When asked about the strange things in Shanghai in time, Guo Weicheng, Kazuyuki Katayama, Xie Siming and Anker all felt that the city of Shanghai is becoming more and more convenient with mobile Internet technology services, involving bicycle sharing, mobile payment, online shopping and so on. These new mobile technologies, which are widely used in China, make people's lives in China more comfortable and convenient.
"The popularity of the cashless economy brought about by smart payments, as well as various new services such as shared bicycles, provide more convenient services than in Japan." Katayama said.
Guo Weicheng was pleasantly surprised to see that at Shanghai Disneyland, tourists were busy logging on to the mobile Internet platform with their mobile phones to buy tickets online, check the length of queues at attractions, and grab fast passes. Anker used WeChat at the high recommendation of his Chinese colleagues and tried to ride a shared bicycle.
Guo Weicheng, a Frenchman and general manager of Shanghai Disney Resort, talks about life in Shanghai. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Di Chun
In Xie Siming's view, mobile payment is quite convenient, in addition to the convenience of daily life, it is also exciting from a professional point of view, "because this is a new way for us to contact customers, which is very important for the development of business." ”
The business of many foreign-funded enterprises is directly or indirectly related to new mobile technologies, such as the "net red" product mobile phone anti-peeping film developed by 3m. Xie Siming feels that he has the privilege of witnessing a new chapter being written in China's reform and opening up.
Reporters: Xu Xiaoqing, Chen Aiping, He Xiyue, Huang Yang, Ren Yaoyao