Reports
On April 17, 2019, the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences officially released “Shanghai Blue Book: A Report on Shanghai’s Economic Development.” The report’s theme is “becoming an outstanding global city,” and it focuses on Shanghai’s economy now and in the future.
The report states that Shanghai has become China’s pioneer for reform and opening up, its champion of innovation, has quickly worked on implementing the Five Core Ideas (Shanghai’s role as a center of global center for economy, finance, trade, shipping, and scientific and technological innovation), fully launched the “Four Brands” of Shanghai (service, manufacturing, shopping, and culture), and, with the goal of high quality development, is leading the steady development of the economy and society. In 2018, Shanghai production output was valued at 32679.87 billion RMB, an increase of 6.6% from the previous year. Due to the decline in Shanghai’s consumption growth rate, the impact of Shanghai’s consumption on education, culture, medicine, and other fields will be made clear. From a holistic standpoint, large scale economic growth has already stopped. In the future, Shanghai will focus more on high quality, sustainable growth.
The Blue Book also focuses on Supply Side Reform and Free Trade Zone Construction. A few studies –“Analysis and Thoughts on Shanghai’s Real Estate Development Through a Supply Side Lens;” “A Study of the Problems of Advancing Supply Side Structural Reforms of Shanghai’s Agriculture;” “A Study of the Implementation of Innovation in the Supply Side Reforms of Shanghai’s Agriculture;” “A Study of the Problems of Shanghai’s Supply Side Reform of Taxes”– expand the status quo regarding Shanghai’s Demand Side Reform. Shanghai needs to further its supply side structural reforms and grow the market share of its high-end manufacturing industry. The report lists more recommendations for the future of Shanghai, such as pushing for integration and mutual benefit of resources, conducting more industry research, increasing the innovative skills used in the high-end manufacturing industry, increasing the opening up of industries, raising the overall level of innovation in the high-end manufacturing industry, further improving the talent mechanism of the manufacturing industry, creating a model for China, and even the world, of talent for high-end manufacturing innovation, strengthening the construction of carriers of high-end manufacturing, and making Shanghai a role model for development.
Furthermore, in light of new trends, Shanghai needs to work to open up its pilot free trade zones even more. The Blue Book Project team investigated methods for further opening up Shanghai’s pilot free trade zones, the mission, principles, and government policies behind the free trade zone’s tax system, the links between Shanghai’s free trade zones and the construction of a international financial center, and the connection between Shanghai’s free trade zones and technological innovation.
The book ends with analysis of Shanghai’s urban innovation and offers predictions for the future. The research team explored Shanghai’s efforts to create an outstanding global city from both a current and future perspective, discussing issues such as the development of Shanghai’s high-end manufacturing industry and reducing institutional transaction costs in the 21st century.
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