The specific location advantages for Shanghai FTZ

Lujiazui Financial Zone The Lujiazui Financial Zone is a part of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone and consists of the Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone and the Expo Park Development Zone. It totals 34.26 square kilometers and is bound by Jiyang Road, Pudong Road S., Longyang Road, Jinxiu Road and Luoshan Road on the east and the south and by the Huangpu River on the west and the north. The Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone is 24.39 square kilometers, bound by the Huangpu River, Longyang Road, Jinxiu Road and Luoshan Road. It is the financial district of Shanghai and the heart of Shanghai International Shipping Center and Shanghai International Trade Center. It plays a key role in the city’s drive to develop modern services and attract the headquarters of multinational corporations. The Shanghai government is pushing for simplified procedures for investors and innovative administration to create a better business environment that complies with international standards and Chinese laws. Jinqiao Development Zone  The Jinqiao Development Zone, which is a part of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone, is 20.48 square kilometers in size bound by the Outer Ring Road in the east, Jinxiu Road in the south, Yanggao Road in the west, and Jufeng Road in the north. The zone teems with enterprises in advanced manufacturing, production services, and strategic new-growth industries. It also serves as a showcase of eco-friendly industries. The zone is promoting administrative and financial innovations to create good environment for trade and investment and fostering strategic growth industries that are very competitive in the world in a bid to enhance its economic vitality and innovation capability. Zhangjiang High Tech Park The Zhangjiang High Tech Park is 37.2 square kilometers in area, bound by the Outer Ring Road in the east and south, Luoshan Road in the west, and Longdong Avenue in the north. Being the core base for Shanghai to implement the national strategies for industrial upgrade and innovation, the park is coordinating the development of Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and Zhangjiang National Innovation Demonstration Zone with a focus on boosting innovation and establishing the National Science Center. It will explore new technologies, new industries, new types of business, and new business models for sustainable growth and build a public service platform for innovation, high-tech financing, talent recruitment and environment studies. Expo Park Development Zone As a major part of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, the Expo Park Development Zone has a cluster of corporate headquarters and many enterprises in shipping, finance and high-end service industries. Formerly, the site of World Expo 2010, the zone consists of three blocks of land in Pudong, Yaohua and Qiantan. The Pudong block features buildings for corporate headquarters and facilities for international conventions and exhibitions, entertainment and tourism. The Yaohua block is being built as a residential and commercial complex with riverfront facilities for recreation and tourism. The Qiantan block is becoming a hub of sports, cultural and media enterprises with world-class facilities for cultural and sporting events. The Bonded Area of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone The State Council approved the establishment of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone on August 2013 and the FTZ was officially launched on September 29 of the same year by merging four bonded areas under the special administration of Shanghai Customs, namely Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone, Waigaoqiao Free Trade Logistics Park, Yangshan Free Trade Port Area, and Pudong Airport Free Trade Zone. The 28.78-square-kilometer FTZ is China’s experiment field to test policies for government reform, financial reform, business innovation, foreign investment and tax reform. It also allows Shanghai to vigorously develop re-export trade and offshore businesses.

Service industry leads China's GDP growth

Chinese companies in the service sector saw stronger profit growth in the first three quarters thanks to rising demand for services and steady price rises, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. The companies saw their operating profit rise 31.4 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters, which was 8.6 percentage points higher than in the first eight months, according to the bureau. The profit growth of the service sector was faster than that in the industrial sector, which saw 22.8 percent growth year-on-year. Bureau spokeswoman Liu Aihua said the service sector was a "bright spot" for the Chinese economy when all other major economic indicators pointed to a slight contraction in October. The rapid rise in demand for services has led to a steady price rise, which contributed to the "outstanding" performance of corporate profitability in the service sector, Liu said at a news conference in Beijing. The service sector's proportion of China's GDP has been rising steadily, surpassing 50 percent in 2015, indicating an improved economic structure. Qu Tianshi, an economist at ANZ Group, said the robust profit growth in the service sector reflected changing consumption trends in China. "Consumption demand has been shifting gradually from goods to more services. This will also help maintain labor market stability during the period of economic transformation," Qu said. An index tracking business activity in the service sector stood at 53.5 percent in October, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. A reading above 50 indicates expansion while a reading below that reflects contraction. Sectors including hotels, retail, aviation logistics, delivery, telecommunications and information technology showed even faster expansion, with their business activity index exceeding 55 percent, data from the NBS showed. Despite the slight contraction in economic activity in October with slower growth of industrial production and investment, economists said that the service sector will continue to be a major factor driving the country's economic growth as more policies are expected to be rolled out to support household consumption. Li Xunlei, chief economist at Zhongtai Securities Co Ltd, said that, in order to unleash its consumption potential, China needs to further improve its social security network and social welfare including public education, elderly care and healthcare. Reducing households' financial leverage in the property and financial sectors will also support consumption expenditure and the expansion of demand for services, Li added.

China Cosco Shipping Group cooperates with Tianjin Port

China Cosco Shipping Group signed a cooperation framework agreement with Tianjin Port (Group) on Oct 26 in Tianjin. The two parties will establish a comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation, and promote the reform of the port of Tianjin and SOEs to contribute to State-building. They will focus on capital cooperation, terminal investment and management, shipping and logistics, shipping finance and talent exchange. China Cosco Shipping Group is an SOE headquartered in Shanghai. It resulted from the merger of China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO) and China Shipping (Group) Company (China Shipping). Its fleet consists of 1,114 vessels with a capacity of 85.32 million DWT, ranking it No.1 in the world. Its container fleet capacity is 1.58 million TEU, the fourth in the world. Its self-owned dry bulk fleet, tanker fleet, general cargo and specialized cargo fleet, are No.1 in the world in terms of capacity. The throughput of its container terminals worldwide is second in the world. Registered in Tianjin Pilot Free Trade Zone, Tianjin Port (Group) is a large State-owned transportation enterprise directly managed by Tianjin. It is the main force in the biggest northern comprehensive port. In 2016, its cargo throughput reached 550 million tons, ranking fifth in the world; cargo throughput in terms of TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) was 14.5 million, tenth in the world.

Vietnamese cross-border workers ride China’s economic boom

It is the busiest time of the year at Nguyen Thien Kam Wan's goods store in Dongxing, a Chinese border city in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Ahead of Singles' Day, China's annual shopping bonanza, the Vietnamese businesswoman had been shipping Vietnamese specialties to Chinese buyers, who placed orders for more than 2,000 bags of dried jackfruit alone. "It [Singles' Day] is larger than our sales in a normal month," she said. For many years, Nguyen Thien Kam Wan has crossed the border from the Vietnamese city of Mong Cai to Dongxing every morning, before returning home to Vietnam after the working day is over. She received less than $100 a day when running the business in 2003, but now, her daily revenue surpasses $500, partly thanks to the Chinese e-commerce platform Taobao, which she and her Chinese friend have used since 2014. "Back in 2003, I didn't see many Vietnamese businesspeople like me, and I always finished work early. But now, customs has extended the closure time to 7 pm," she said. Growing capital In the 1990s, China began allowing border residents to conduct small-scale cross-border businesses, attracting Vietnamese residents to Dongxing, which is just across the border from Mong Cai. In 2012, the Dongxing government allowed Vietnamese residents to open stores in the city, fueling another surge in the number of workers crossing the border. According to government data, there are now 1,886 Vietnamese stores operating in China, with registered capital of more than 28 million yuan ($4.3 million). Furthermore, as of March 2016, there were 10,000 cross-border workers filling a variety of jobs in Dongxing, according to official statistics. Business between China and Vietnam is booming, with bilateral trade hittig $100 billion in 2016, which has led to an increasing number of Vietnamese workers coming to work in the city during the day. China's miraculous economic growth since the country's opening up and reform in the late 1970s has benefited its neighbors, including Vietnam, especially in border trade, according to Phung Thi Hue from the Institute of Chinese Studies at the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences. In addition to traditional trade in goods, some border residents of the two countries have seized opportunities in China's booming e-commerce sector, said the senior researcher. Figures from data provider Syntun show that China's major e-commerce sites recorded nearly 254 billion yuan (about $38 billion) in sales over 24 hours during this year's Singles' Day on November 11, the name of which derives from the date 11/11 as it resembles four "bare sticks," a term used in China to refer to single people. Factory opportunities Besides commuters, an increasing number of Vietnamese workers have been stationed in factories in Guangxi's border cities such as Pingxiang as well as Dongxing. Dongxing began implementing a pilot scheme in 2015 allowing eight local factories to hire about 1,000 Vietnamese employees for a single stay of up to six months. Now, more than 4,000 Vietnamese workers are hired by nearly 20 factories in the city as the scheme expanded. Pingxiang began its pilot scheme in early 2017. As a beneficiary of the pilot, Hoang Chunyan works at Dongxing Yicheng Food Development Company, earning at least 2,000 yuan a month, higher than a similar job would offer in her hometown. The company, with more than 300 Vietnamese workers in the peak season, provides employees with accident insurance, giving its machine workers peace of mind. Vietnamese employees help relieve the shortage of blue-collar workers in border areas, according to Jiang Liansheng, head of Guangxi's commerce department. "China's Belt and RoadInitiative will bring closer cooperation between the two countries and border trade will be more prosperous," Phung Thi Hue said. "Therefore, more and more Vietnamese people are expected to seek jobs in China."

Shanghai positions itself as nation's AI hub

Shanghai is looking to become China's hot-spot for artificial intelligence and wants to expand the industry scale in the city to more than 100 billion yuan ($15.06 million) by 2020, according to a new municipal plan issued. The Opinion on Promoting the City's Next Generation of AI Development was published on the municipal government website, outlining 21 measures to boost the industry. These include steps like forming a world class industry cluster, nurturing 10 benchmark AI innovative enterprises with substantial influence, building six AI innovative application demonstration areas and launching more than 100 application demonstration projects. "Shanghai's rich big data resources, wide application of smart technologies, sufficient industries, as well as its affluent research talents have laid a solid foundation for the development of the AI industry," said Chen Mingbo, director of the Shanghai Commission of Economy and Information Technology. According to Chen, although Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent, the trio of Chinese internet giants, are not based in Shanghai, the city could be the birthplace of AI unicorn companies, as its conditions are mature. But to achieve such a goal, Chen said Shanghai should deepen the integration of AI and related industries including high-end equipment, integrated circuits, biomedical, and automotive to establish a set of innovation centers for intelligent manufacturing and industrial internet. In addition, AI industrial clusters will be built across the city with different focuses like intelligent driving, intelligent robots, intelligent software and hardware. Tailor-made policies will be in place for attracting better talent both from home and abroad to Shanghai, and a strategic advisory committee for experts will be established to aid the city's AI planning and development, Chen said. "Shanghai is currently building an AI development alliance, and nearly 300 major enterprises, investment and financing institutions, as well as research institutions have been tapped. We will work on attracting global AI enterprises to locate their regional headquarters and innovation centers in Shanghai," Chen said. As a cutting-edge technology that is sought after worldwide, the AI industry is regarded a new growth engine for Shanghai, a city with special advantages in big database, industrial foundation, and sufficient talents from universities and institutions, according to Chen, adding that the massive data resources are the first and foremost element for developing AI technology.

China-Laos railway project set to be completed in 2021, despite challenges

Construction of the China-Laos railway is underway and the line will go into operation by the end of December 2021, a leader of the project told the Global Times. The 414-kilometer railway will link Kunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan Province, and Vientiane, capital of Laos. It is also part of the Trans-Asian Railway, a project designed as an integrated freight railway network across Europe and Asia. Since a groundbreaking ceremony for the railway was held in December 2015, concrete progress has been made in Laos in the past two years, Huang Hong, head of China-Laos railway commanding department under China Railway Group Ltd, told the Global Times. China Railway Group, along with its subsidiaries and other affiliates such as China Railway No.5 Group and China Railway International Group, are working on different parts of the railway. "The total length of our construction tender is 244.5 kilometers, including 45 tunnels and 99 bridges. As of mid-October, we've completed 14,925 meters in the channel excavation work," Huang said. Under a franchise agreement signed between China and Laos, the Laotian government provides policy support for the project while Chinese companies are responsible for 90 percent of the total construction work, Huang noted. "And the remaining 10 percent will be carried out by Laotian workers, in order to create more local jobs," he said. The investment in the project is about 40 billion yuan ($5.8 billion), 70 percent of which comes from Chinese investment and the rest from Laos, the Xinhua News Agency reported in August. Laos has been stepping up efforts to improve its infrastructure, as it is the only inland country in Southeast Asia and it still has limited transport options, noted a Chinese business representative in Laos. "The China-Laos railway will fix this problem and help lower logistics costs," said Chen Cuiying, general manager of a Laos-based subsidiary of Yunnan State Farms Group Co. For example, it costs about 900 yuan to transport 1,000 tons of rubber from Vientiane to Yunnan during the peak season for rubber production, which runs from July to December, Chen noted. "Though it remains unclear how the operator of the China-Laos railway will price cargo, it will cost 50 to 60 percent less to transport cargo by rail than by road," she told the Global Times on Monday. Joint efforts The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing in May provided new impetus for the China-Laos rail project, as a slew of concrete construction plans were advanced, Xu Liping, an expert with the National Institute of International Strategy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday. "However, it remains a project between two nations, and has not been considered as an intercontinental project extended to Thailand," he said. Huang, the chief commander, also noted that there is no timeline for the overall Trans-Asian Railway project. The integration of the China-Laos railway into the Trans-Asian Railway will certainly play a role in generating profits for countries along the route, but the countries involved have not yet started any talks on the matter, he said. Difficulties remain Despite the progress, the China-Laos rail project still faces some difficulties. For example, funds are not always allocated on time, and Laos lacks some of the needed construction materials like cement, Huang noted. "The poor transport conditions in the country also increase risks for the on-site work," he said. Given these challenges, the Laotian government should adopt some temporary policies to facilitate imports of related products, Xu noted. In addition, as Chinese workers are usually more efficient, it's necessary to provide some training programs for their Laotian co-workers to make sure both sides complete the project at the same time, he said. "Still, the project will play an exemplary role in the Belt and Road initiative and will showcase the enhanced connectivity among Southeast Asian countries, as well as bringing business benefits for local communities," he remarked.