A new form of opening-up in succession to special economic zones, coastal open cities, state-level new areas, and pilot free trade zones (new areas, free trade ports) -an international hub for opening up roars across the horizon in our country in the wake of Hongqiao’s expanding and upgrading from an integrated transport hub to a business district (actually a service industry public zone in the Yangtze River Delta), and then to an international hub for opening up. This form, linked with the complex and efficient multimodal transport, characterized by “five types of economy” including Innovative Economy, Service-Oriented Economy, Open Economy, Headquarters Economy, and Flow Economy and covered by both domestic and international sectors, allocates resources, aggregates elements and leads the industry.

This new form provides sister provinces with a very useful guidance and reference for the deepening of reforms and the furthering of opening-up - from the previous large bases, large parks, and large projects to large transport, large conventions and exhibitions and large business, deepens the construction of a unified national market through the “Hyperlink” function of “Rainbow Bridge” so that it can play a fundamental and decisive role. Greater Hongqiao is the economic geographic center of the Yangtze River Delta (Stage 1: localization, Stage 2: regionalization, Stage 3: internationalization, Stage 4: globalization, in a state of evolving from stage 2 to stage 3, and early arrival of stage 4). The whole country needs many such vertically taller (advancement) and horizontally stronger (connectivity) economic geographic centers, of which the opening to the inside makes external economic cycle more competitive and the opening to the outside makes internal economic cycle more efficient.

The overall plan of Hongqiao International Hub for Opening-up proposes “Two Belts” – northward expansion belt (Hongqiao-Changning-Jiading-Kunshan-Taicang-Xiangcheng-Suzhou Industrial Park) and southward expansion belt (Hongqiao-Minhang-Songjiang-Jinshan-Pinghu-Nanhu-Haiyan-Haining). The overall plan also gives the tasks of creating a central business cooperation zone, an international trade coordinated development zone, an integrated transport hub function expansion zone, an international business zone with cultural characteristics and tourism functions, a digital trade innovation development zone, and a new river-sea-air combined transport platform. The two expansion belts are in fact similar to the two side bones of a folding fan. Only when we use our fingers to twist off the side bones and core bones to fully open the folds of the fan, can the fan generate a wind coming out slowly. Unlike most ancient literati who used fans as props, what we need are practical and innovative tools.

We can also understand as follows: Hongqiao is a palm root with five outstretched fingers kept as a fist or released as a palm at our own pleasure, somewhat similar to the Copenhagen development model (axial radiation) but different from the previous circle or ripple structure. This puts forward extremely high requirements for free, facilitated and value-added flows of resource elements based on the free trade system (intangible) and innovation corridors/industrial corridors (tangible). The intangible system supply and tangible carrier construction must be dedicated to promoting functional continuity, industrial relay and spatial adaptation.

We are very pleased to see that Hongqiao International Hub for Opening Up has clarified a number of high-level functional platforms, and has introduced and will soon introduce a number of policy measures with high relative intrinsic value, especially having grasped the “bull nose” of central business and international trade. We have always believed that everything begins with trading. Therefore, we must make service trade shine and flourish in the construction of Hongqiao International Hub for Opening-up so as to attract more new business forms and new models.

 (He Wanpeng, Dean and Chief Researcher of Shanghai Qiantan Emerging Industry Research Institute)