AS last year’s Suzhou Creek Forum emphasized revival of the old industrial town Taopu, the summit hosted on September 17 this year focused on the reform and transformation of Putuo.

More than 200 guests from government offices, higher education institutions and companies participated in the forum this year.

Yang Jie, vice chairman of the district People’s Political Consultative Conference, talked about this year’s major projects, including a logistics center in the northwest, Changfeng Financial Port, the reform of state-owned enterprises and an administrative and approval system.

Since the 12th Five-Year Plan, the economy and social development in Putuo has seen significant progress, but problems also emerged, Yang said.

“The model of economic growth needs further transformation,” he said. “The tax revenue relies too much on traditional industries while the new service industry has not yet become strong enough to support the district’s fast development,” he said.

Urban function

The urban function also needs to improve, he said, citing 93 markets in the district, some of them in need of changing their environment.

“We also need to step up in gathering resources,” Yang said. “Shanghai has a total of 470 transnational company headquarters, but only three are registered in Putuo. At the same time, absorption for high-end domestic enterprise resources is relatively low.”

The plan centers on accelerating the reform and restructuring and gathering technology resources to raise the level of energy and creativity of Putuo.

This includes specific plans and advice for reforming the four major projects. The district governor of Putuo, Cheng Xiangmin, spoke at the forum about exploring the potential for developing an open and creative economy.

“Putuo, as the west gate of Shanghai and an important demonstration project for reform, has clear advantages geographically, but it’s more important to focus on the city’s goals of building a technologically creative center of global influence and a modern metropolitan city,” Cheng said.

Taopu a key

Taopu is still a key for Putuo and Shanghai’s future development. With high-level planning and in-depth research, the transformation of the region will see significant results.

Developing merger and acquisition is another highlight in Putuo’s overall economic plan. An international platform for M&A is expected to be finished by 2020.

“Through the government’s innovative evaluation system and improvement of service level, we are actively constructing the platform at the lowest cost, most efficient and convenient,” Cheng said.

Putuo has become one of the first districts to start a new management system of customs supervision and control in experimenting with a free trade area. Some 17 policies will help the district upgrade its platforms and functions.

M50 Art hub

50 Moganshan Road is a creative park for art and its related trade. The new operating model will help M50 become an art-dealing service zone by working with the platform of the logistics center in the northwest.

The Suzhou Creek Forum takes place annually, examining the results of development in Putuo as well as serving as a platform for sharing ideas and information.

Suzhou Creek flows across the Shanghai metropolitan area and borne witness to the city’s transformation. Along with the Huangpu River, the smaller creek has been called a “mother river” of Shanghai.

It originates from Guajing Creek, Jiangsu Province, and joins the Huangpu River at the Waibaidu Bridge in downtown Shanghai after running 125 kilometers. Of the 53 kilometers in Shanghai, 21 are in the downtown area, including 14.3 kilometers in Putuo District.

Originally called the Wusong River, the name Suzhou dates from the former foreign concession period when expats often traveled by boat on the little river from Shanghai to Suzhou.