A set of data can illustrate the position of the Lingang Special Area in Shanghai's economic development—currently,1/9 of the city's large-scale industrial output value is in Lingang,1/4 of the manufacturing fixed asset investment is in Lingang,and 1/4 of the major projects in the science and technology industry are in Lingang.

On August 20th,the Lingang Special Area held a mobilization and deployment conference titled "Gear Up Again and Set Out on a New Journey." Chen Jinshan,a member of the Shanghai Municipal Committee and the Party Secretary and Director of the Lingang Special Area,stated that the area is currently transitioning from a phase primarily focused on urban construction to one centered on industrial development.It is essential to employ clearer thinking,more precise measures,and more effective methods to add new momentum and strength to this new phase.

Development of Frontier Industry Clusters

The Lingang Special Area has established a "4+2+2" frontier industry system.The "4" refers to integrated circuits,artificial intelligence,biopharmaceuticals,and civil aviation.The first "2" represents Lingang's traditional advantageous industries of intelligent vehicles and high-end equipment manufacturing.The second "2" refers to the emerging industries of new energy and new materials that Lingang aims to develop in the future.

Over the past five years,the Lingang Special Area has signed over 570 key projects in frontier technology industries,with an investment amount exceeding 620 billion yuan.The total output value of the four leading frontier industries—integrated circuits,biopharmaceuticals,artificial intelligence,and civil aviation—has seen an average annual growth of 34.1%.

Integrated circuits are the leading industry in the Lingang Special Area in terms of investment scale,industrial concentration,and output value growth.With a cumulative investment of 260 billion yuan over five years,the large-scale industrial output value has increased sixfold,and it is expected to reach 20 billion yuan by the end of this year,achieving an industrial scale breakthrough of over 40 billion yuan.The goal for the next five years is to exceed an industrial scale of 100 billion yuan.

The artificial intelligence industry,which empowers various industries,has gathered over 200 companies by the end of 2023,with an industrial scale of 27.28 billion yuan.The aim is to break through an industrial scale of 50 billion yuan by 2025,attracting 30,000 talents.

In the field of civil aviation,Lingang has already gathered more than 40 companies,forming a leading structure with aircraft and engine assembly,along with multiple sub-industries,with a value scale of 12.7 billion yuan.The goal is to support the production capacity of large aircraft such as C919 and ARJ21 to reach 200 units by the end of 2026,achieving a value scale of over 40 billion yuan.

At the same time,advantageous industries represented by high-end equipment manufacturing and intelligent connected vehicles are releasing scale effects.The intelligent vehicle industry is currently the largest in terms of output value and the strongest in driving benefits in Lingang,with the value increasing from 31.4 billion yuan in 2019 to 287.9 billion yuan in 2023,and the output of intelligent electric vehicles reaching 1.15 million units in 2023.The aim is to break through an industrial scale of 350 billion yuan by 2025,becoming a world-class intelligent new energy vehicle industry cluster.

Furthermore,emerging industries and future industries represented by new energy and new materials are seizing opportunities.Lingang is constructing a new energy industry system that includes energy storage systems,integrated services,key equipment,core technologies,core components,and demonstration applications.Among them,Tesla's Shanghai energy storage super factory is expected to have an annual production capacity of 10,000 units,with an energy storage scale of nearly 40 gigawatt-hours.In the field of new materials,the focus is on developing national strategic new materials for emerging industries such as medical polymers,electronic information,new energy vehicles,and aerospace.Chen Jinshan emphasized at the aforementioned mobilization and deployment conference that over the next five years,it is imperative to firmly grasp reform and opening up,and create a batch of high-value institutional innovation outcomes.Institutional innovation must be resolutely placed in the primary position,focusing on key areas such as cross-border finance,cross-border data,high-energy shipping services,value-added telecommunications,and the Yangshan Special Comprehensive Bonded Zone,conducting a greater degree of openness stress tests,and striving to make the Lingang New Area a national demonstration zone for institutional openness.

At the same time,it is essential to strengthen investment attraction and create a number of distinctive industrial clusters with industry-leading advantages.The cultivation of industrial ecosystems and industrial development should be placed in a more important position,focusing on key areas such as integrated circuits,intelligent vehicles,civil aviation,and high-end equipment.The aim is to attract upstream and downstream enterprises in the industry,and to firmly grasp the construction of industrial ecosystems,making the Lingang New Area a nationally influential advanced manufacturing base.

Enhancing Global Resource Allocation Capability

With the accelerated development of emerging financial forms such as cross-border finance and offshore finance,high-energy shipping is gradually making up for its shortcomings,and cross-border data flow is becoming more convenient and efficient.The role of the new area as "an important hub for the coordinated development of onshore and offshore businesses,and a vital channel for better utilization of two markets and two types of resources" is becoming more prominent.

Chen Jinshan stated that over the next five years,it is imperative to highlight cross-border offshore economy and form a batch of new economic development models.Focus should be placed on the construction of international data economy industrial parks,the development of cross-border and offshore finance,and the growth of offshore trade,to further enhance the special economic functions and international development level of the Lingang New Area.

In 2023,the Port of Shanghai surpassed Singapore to become the world's second-largest bonded LNG bunkering port.The reason behind this is that in March 2022,China's first international voyage ship bonded LNG "ship-to-ship" bunkering business was implemented at Yangshan Port.

Currently,the global shipping industry is accelerating the transformation towards digitalization,intelligence,and greening,with major global ports actively striving to capture the market for green and clean fuel bunkering for ships.At present,the bonded LNG "ship-to-ship" bunkering range has covered all berths at Yangshan Port and has expanded to Shanghai South Port and related anchorages.By the end of July 2024,a total of 114 bunkering operations had been completed,with a bunkering volume of 660,636.7 cubic meters.

Beyond LNG,Lingang is also focusing on the new track of green methanol fuel bunkering.On April 10th,the "Astrid Maersk" of Maersk Group docked at Yangshan Port,and China's first and the world's largest green methanol bunkering ship "Seaport Zhiyuan" completed its first "ship-to-ship" simultaneous bunkering operation for it,making the Port of Shanghai the first port in the country with the capability of green methanol ship-to-ship simultaneous bunkering.

In recent years,Maersk has also participated in several innovative businesses such as coastal transshipment and international transshipment consolidation.Taking the pilot of coastal transshipment business by foreign liner companies as an example,this is an important breakthrough in the opening up of China's international shipping field.Currently,132 ships including Maersk,Pacific International Lines,and CMA CGM have been approved to carry out coastal transshipment business by foreign liner companies,with the total coastal transshipment box volume reaching 128,000 TEUs in 2023.

Since the beginning of this year,Lingang has also promoted the implementation of export transshipment business to coastal transshipment,which has brought 98,000 TEUs of throughput in the first half of the year.This has attracted transshipment goods that were originally in Singapore,Busan,and other places to be transshipped at the Port of Shanghai,prompting leading liner companies to increase their route layout at the Port of Shanghai,enhancing the port's hub capacity.The enhancement of global shipping resource allocation capabilities has driven Yangshan Port to achieve a container throughput of over 25 million TEUs in 2023,accounting for 51% of the 49 million standard boxes in the Port of Shanghai,helping the Port of Shanghai to retain its title as the world's number one container port for 14 consecutive years.