Building Shanghai as the epicentre of technological innovation

International trading platforms for financial assets should be built, for example, and direct financing given greater priority in promoting Shanghai as an international financial centre.

SHANGHAI should better connect domestic and international markets in order to improve its high-quality development and facilitate China’s deepened round of reform and opening-up, according to the proposed new five-year plan and development goals for 2035 released on Thursday.

Shanghai’s proposed 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) says that high quality will be the highlight of its future economic development through strengthening the city’s four major functions – allocating global resources, initiating technological innovation, leading development of high-end industries and opening up as a hub. Those functions were stressed by President Xi Jinping during his visit to Shanghai in November 2019.