Lujiazui area in Shanghai Photo:Xinhua

A number of Chinese ministries on Friday pledged increased support for the implementation of a new comprehensive reform plan for Pudong New Area in Shanghai, as part of China's ongoing efforts to enhance reform and opening-up.
The move comes as the State Council on Monday released an implementation plan for Pudong's pilot comprehensive reform from 2023 to 2027. It grants Pudong New Area greater opening-up levels in key areas and crucial reforms, covering market access, financial market, technological collaboration and data exchanges, and allows numerous national-level opening-up measures to be tested and implemented in Pudong before being rolled out nationwide.

Ling Ji, a vice minister of commerce told a press conference on Friday that the ministry will support Pudong New Area to align with high-level international trade rules and promote reform and innovation in key areas and critical links.

“Currently, economic globalization is facing some setbacks, but open cooperation remains the historical trend,” Ling said.

Cao Ning, an official from the Ministry of Science and Technology, said that the ministry will support Pudong to make significant scientific breakthroughs. Efforts will be made to encourage collaboration between Chinese and foreign scientists on cutting-edge global scientific projects and encourage multinational companies to establish research and development centers in Pudong New Area to facilitate cross-border scientific and technological cooperation, Cao noted.

Wang Xin, an official from the People’s Bank of China (PBC), China’s central bank said that PBC will steadily support institutions with their headquarters in Pudong to develop offshore economic and trade business. Efforts will be made to facilitate the use of the yuan for cross-border transactions, enhance the pilot program for integrated cash pooling of domestic and foreign currencies for multinational companies, and steadily promote the two-way opening offinancial markets in Shanghai.

Hua Yuan, vice mayor of Shanghai, said that the city will continue to support Pudong New Area in its bold exploration and independent reforms, to provide experience for the nation.

For example, Shanghai is studying and refining data classification on key areas to solve cross-border data exchange obstacles facing companies and implementing special measures to further simplify market entry in Pudong New Area, Hua said.

The city is also set to formulate more regulations for Pudong New Area to further enhance the legal guarantee system and make regulatory framework be more  in line with pilot reform tasks, Hua said.

The latest comprehensive reform plan focuses on key areas in Pudong New Area that have the potential for reform and proposes measures in various areas such as institutional opening-up, technological innovation, talent development, business environment, and urban governance, Li Chunlin, vice director of the National Development and Reform Commission said on Friday.

Measures such as exploring the relaxation of foreign access restrictions in telecommunications services, medical and health fields, establishing new rules governing the digital economy, and optimizing measures for cross-border data flow management are at the forefront of reform and play an important role in driving practical solutions to related problems, Li said.

It is hoped that the comprehensive reform pilot in Pudong New Area will create a set of good experiences and practices that can be replicated nationwide, Li added.