BEIJING, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- This year marks the 30th anniversary of China's announcement that it would develop and open up Shanghai's Pudong, which epitomizes China's continuous efforts to deepen reforms and open its doors to the world.
Since designated a new area in 1990, Pudong has undergone a remarkable transformation, becoming a popular destination for investors, innovators and policy pilots.
The following facts and figures reflect Pudong's significant progress over the last three decades:
-- Pudong's regional GDP has surged more than 210 times from 6 billion yuan (about 906 million U.S. dollars) in 1990 to 1.27 trillion yuan in 2019.
-- Pudong's fiscal revenue jumped from 1.1 billion yuan in 1993 to 431.6 billion yuan in 2019.
-- Foreign capital flowing into the area soared to 8.77 billion U.S. dollars in 2019, up from 13 million U.S. dollars 30 years earlier.
-- By the end of 2019, Pudong had been home to 240 research and development centers and the regional headquarters of 332 multinational enterprises.
-- Pudong is well-known for its iconic skyscrapers, including the 632-meter-tall Shanghai Tower, the tallest building in China, which receives more than 1 million visitors every year.
-- The Shanghai port handled 43.3 million TEUs of containers in 2019, ranking the first globally for ten years in a row.
-- Shanghai Pudong International Airport handled 3.63 million tonnes of goods and mails in 2019, ranking higher up in the world.
-- As a pillar industry of Pudong's economy, the financial sector saw its added value hit 383.5 billion yuan in 2019, contributing roughly 30 percent of the area's total GDP.
Lujiazui, sitting directly opposite the Bund, has developed into an influential financial zone. More than 860 financial institutions licensed by China's banking, securities and insurance regulators, as well as their subsidiaries and branches, have gathered in Lujiazui. Over 75 percent of brokerages in China have offices in the zone.
-- The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) in Pudong is one of two stock exchanges on the Chinese mainland. Last year, China's Nasdaq-style sci-tech innovation board was launched on the SSE, with the goal of piloting a registration-based system and facilitating China's financial reform.
As of Oct. 30, a total of 191 companies had listed on the board with a combined market value of more than 2.9 trillion yuan.
-- The "AIsland" of the Zhangjiang Science City in Pudong, an AI cluster for major AI players and start-ups, is expected to attract over 100 companies and more than 7,000 researchers by the end of 2020.
-- Zhangjiang Pharma Valley, a state-level bio-medicine industrial base located in Pudong, produces 15 percent of China's original drugs and 10 percent of the country's innovative medical devices.
-- The integrated circuit sector, one of the major innovative industries in Pudong, saw its size exceed 120 billion yuan in 2019, which accounted for 16.1 percent of the country's total.
-- The China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ), the first pilot FTZ in the country, was established in Pudong in August 2013. A total of 328 institutional innovations rolled out there have since been replicated and promoted nationwide.
The Lingang area, a new section of the Shanghai pilot FTZ, attracted 20.23 billion yuan of industrial investment in the first three quarters of this year, surging 52.2 percent year on year.
-- U.S. electric car company Tesla in 2019 built its first Gigafactory outside the United States in the new Lingang area, with a designed annual production capacity of 500,000 units. The Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory broke ground in early 2019 and delivered its first batch of made-in-China Model 3 sedans one year later.
-- Pudong will pilot the "one integrated license" system in 31 areas including e-commerce, construction projects, convenience stores, cafeterias, cinemas, gyms and book stores, to integrate the multiple licenses previously required into one for market access, according to the State Council's latest executive meeting. Enditem
