As a better Pudong is pictured, it’s time to roll up sleeves to make it happen.

Top minds shared ways to support high-level reform and opening-up of Pudong yesterday in a press conference held by the State Council Information Office, five days after China released a guideline to further drive Pudong’s quality growth.

According to the guideline, Pudong will be built into a pioneer area for socialist modernization. By 2035, Pudong’s development level and international competitiveness will make it one of the top in the world. By 2050, it will become an area with great appeal, creativity, competitiveness and influence in the world.

In the mind of Pudong’s Party Secretary Weng Zuliang, people living in Pudong will be brimmed with a sense of belonging, happiness and security.

“A future Pudong will become the best destination for global investment, trade and entrepreneurship. Global goods, technologies, talent, data and capital will be allocated efficiently. New discoveries, inventions, startups and products will spring up,” he said.

“A future Pudong will also become the best place to put the concept of a people-oriented city into practice. Everyone will have the chance to show themselves, take part in urban governance, enjoy quality life, feel the warmth and have a sense of belonging and acceptance,” he said.

Cong Liang, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, said Pudong should support the city to lead the integrated development of Yangtze River Delta; help to achieve a high level of self-reliance and self-improvement; provide stronger institutional guarantees, and better practice the people-oriented concept.

He compared the lack of self-developed key technologies to the biggest risk that hinders the country’s development.

“We can’t beg or buy key technologies. We have to rely on ourselves,” he said. “Pudong has natural advantages of making innovation. It is expected to be the pioneer and pacesetter in scientific and technological innovation, in particular in frontier research of brain science and quantum science as well as in key fields such as high-end integrated circuits components and basic software.”

He also stressed Pudong’s leading role in institutional reform.

“China’s reform has dived into the deep end, but there are still underlying institutional barriers. Pudong should explore new attempts to offer references,” he said, giving examples that China will support Pudong in developing offshore yuan trading, cross-border trade settlement and overseas financing services.

Echoing his call, Shanghai Executive Vice Mayor Chen Yin revealed some of the specific measures. According to him, Pudong will explore a pilot commercial registration and confirmation system, deepen the reform of an integrated system involving matters of multiple affairs and carry out more intensive stress testing of institutional reform in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone and Lingang Special Area.

Sun Yuning, deputy head of the General Administration of Customs of China, pointed out the important role of special customs supervision areas in Pudong’s high-level reform and opening-up. Since the 1990s, China has set five such areas in Pudong such as Waigaoqiao and Yangshan. In 2020, their total import and export value reached 1.1 trillion yuan (US$170 billion), accounting for 53 percent of Pudong's total and 32 percent of Shanghai's total, he said.

According to Chen, Pudong will also accelerate the construction of Zhangjiang Comprehensive National Science Center and enhance its influence as part of its efforts to build a world-class cluster of major scientific facilities, as well as to establish state-level innovation bases in key fields such as integrated circuits, biomedicine, artificial intelligence, and aviation and aerospace.

According to Weng, talent plays a very important role. Pudong now has 1.55 million talent, and it will explore to make more favorable policies to attract more talent, including foreigners.