Global experts envision future development of Hongqiao International Opening-up Hub

International experts gathering at a sub-forum of the Hongqiao International Economic Forum in Shanghai have said that digitalization and intelligence will become the defining feature of an international opening-up hub under construction in the city and its vicinity.

The sub-forum on Building Hongqiao International Opening-up Hub and Hub Conference 2024 of the seventh Hongqiao International Economic Forum took place in Shanghai on Thursday, with the theme of further improving the capacity of the hub and fully fostering new quality productive forces.

The State Council approved the overall plan in February 2021 to build Shanghai's Hongqiao area and parts of the neighboring Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces into an international opening-up hub bridging domestic and international markets.

Viewed as a microcosm of China's ongoing efforts to deepen high-level opening up, the construction of the hub has attracted wide attention and expectations from both domestic and foreign participants at the forum. The focus lies on how to further promote the development of the hub, particularly in enhancing its radiation and demonstration effects in areas such as sci-tech innovation and green and low-carbon development.

In recent years, new technologies represented by digitalization and intelligence have consistently achieved breakthroughs, while new business forms have emerged continuously, and new applications have rapidly expanded.

Participants at the forum shared the view that digital and intelligent technologies empower new models of innovative economic growth, which will play a significant role in deepening reforms and promoting economic development.

"China also has an enormous ability to innovate. If you want to find the best electric vehicles in the world, you look to China. This is innovation, this is new ideas, and this is going to be the driving force of economic and social development in the future," said Viktor Mayer-Schonberger, a professor of internet governance and regulation at Oxford University.

In addition, over the past three years since the plan's approval, the Hongqiao International Central Business District (CBD), functioning as the core of the Hongqiao international opening-up hub, has seen accelerated clustering of competitive industries, significant progress in functional development, and a burst of vitality from diverse entities.

In the first three quarters of 2024, major economic indicators in the CBD, including tax revenue, import and export volume, industrial output value above designated size, and fixed-asset investment, all recorded a double-digit growth, establishing the district as a vibrant growth pole for the economic development of Shanghai and the broader Yangtze River Delta region.

The seventh China International Import Expo (CIIE) is taking place in Shanghai from Tuesday to Sunday. The Hongqiao International Economic Forum, an important part of the CIIE, includes a main forum and 19 sub-forums.

Global experts envision future development of Hongqiao International Opening-up Hub

To meet the timeline of starting independent customs operations by the end of 2025, the government of south China's Hainan province issued a series of regulations to stipulate import and export management of Free Trade Port (FTP), with two major documents on environmental safety and medicine import put into effect recently.

To further explain the effects and scope of the two documents, the local government held press conferences on Monday and Tuesday.

The "Several Provisions on the Management of Entry Environmental Safety Access in the Hainan Free Trade Port" took effect on Wednesday, which clarified the scopes and responsibilities regarding potential environmental issues of vessels and import products.

"The document regulates the access management of special items such as hazardous waste, remanufactured products, carry-on items of entry personnel, and radioactive materials. Meanwhile, it clarifies that the storage sites for transit goods should meet environmental safety management requirements, to avoid environmental pollution," said Di Weijie, deputy director of the Department of Ecology and Environment of Hainan Province.

In addition, the administrative rule on zero-tariff import of medicines and medical devices in Hainan Free Trade Port was put into effect on Tuesday, stipulating that before Hainan FTP starts independent customs operations, medical institutions, higher medical education institutions, and pharmaceutical research institutes registered in the Hainan's Boao Lecheng Pilot Zone with independent legal status and approved eligibility can import designated pharmaceuticals and medical devices under the zero-tariff policy.

"The scope [of medicines and medical devices imported under 'zero-tariff' policy] consists of two categories: imported pharmaceuticals and medical devices already approved for registration in China, and specially licensed pharmaceuticals and medical devices for the Boao Lecheng Pilot Zone," said Jia Ning, director of Hainan Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone Administration, during the press conference.

With policy supports and related efforts like the Ever Lasting International Innovation Medicine Exhibition held in the Boao Lecheng Pilot Zone, medicine and health care is expected to be a new pillar industry for Hainan.

New regulations clarify environment, medicine import issues in Hainan Free Trade Port