The Australia-China Chamber of Commerce and Industry
of New South Wales

 


 


SHANGHAI MUNICIPALITY
(上海市)

Shanghai Municipality is shown as the small white area within the dark purple area.  It is bounded by Zhejiang Province to the south and by Jiangsu Province to the west.

 


General Profile:


Population: 16,700,000

Area: 6,340.5 square kilometres

General information: The city is built on a low-lying, flat area formed by the Yangtze River Delta.  It is the largest commercial and financial centre in China and is a major seaport. 

Average temperatures: 2 degrees C to 4 degrees C in January; 27 degrees C to 28 degrees C in July.

Physical features: The area contained in the municipality is mountainous in the north and the west, with flatlands in the southeast.

Rivers: The Huangpu River flows through the municipality.

Economic features: Since manufacturing is expanding westward into Jiangsu Province, and southward into Zhejiang Province, the city's status as a business centre as well as centre for education, science and technology is becoming enhanced.  

Administrative divisions: 12 districts and 10 counties.

Historical significance: In the 1840s, Shanghai was a small town.  Its close position to the sea (the name means “by the sea”) made it vulnerable to pirates and the town was enclosed in a wall for protection.

It grew rapidly near the International Settlement (outside the wall) after the Opium Wars.  The city acquired its first million inhabitants by 1900.

 


Natural Resources:


The municipality is almost completely urban, with few natural resources.

 


Economic Profile:

 

 

1999

2000

Economic Indicators

Value

Growth

Value

Growth

 

 

(% p.a.)

 

(% p.a.)

Gross domestic product (RMB bn)

403.5

9.4*

455.1

10.8*

GDP per capita (RMB)

30,805

9.1

34,600

12.3

Disposable income per capita

 

 

 

 

  - urban (RMB)

10,932

24.5

11,718

7.2

  - rural (RMB)

5,409

-1.9

5,596

3.5

Fixed investment (RMB bn)

185.6

-5.6

186.1

0.2

Value added by sector

 

 

 

 

  - primary (RMB bn)

8.0

0.1

8.2

2.5

  - secondary (RMB bn)

195.4

5.8

218.7

11.9

  - tertiary (RMB bn)

200.1

13.6

228.3

14.1

Retail sales (RMB bn)

159.0

8.1

172.2

8.3

Inflation (CPI, %)

-1.5

 

2.5

 

Exports (US$ bn)

18.3

17.0

24.6

34.7

  - by FIEs (US$ bn)

10.4

26.7

14.3

37.8

Imports (US$ bn)

19.8

26.9

30.1

52.1

  - by FIEs (US$ bn)

12.3

22.6

19.1

55.4

Foreign direct investments

 

 

 

 

  - number of projects

1,472

-1.2

1,814

23.2

  - contracted amount (US$ bn)

4.1

-29.8

6.4

55.1

  - utilised amount (US$ bn)

2.8

-21.2

3.2

11.4

Notes: *in real terms
Sources:
Beijing Statistical Yearbook

 

 


Infrastructure:


Water Transport Shanghai is a transport hub of central China.  The port of Shanghai is the largest in China, served by more than 19 international container-shipping lines.   In 2000, the number of containers handled by Shanghai grew by 33 per cent to 5.6 million TEU.  Shanghai is linked to the inland provinces via the Yangtze River, which leads to as far as Chongqing. 

Railways The railway network consists of trunk lines connecting Beijing, Hangzhou and other major cities in the country.  The opening of Shanghai-Kowloon Railway shortened the travel time between Hong Kong and Shanghai to 29 hours.  

Roadways Road links have been greatly improved in recent years.  The opening of Shanghai-Ningbo Expressway and Shanghai-Hangzhou Expressway shortened the travel time from Shanghai to Nanjing and Shanghai to Hangzhou to only 2.3 and 1.5 hours respectively.  Transport within Shanghai was improved with the construction of Yian'an Road which connects the airport, the Bund(外灘)and the outer ring road.

Air Transport The Hongqiao(虹橋)Airport is one of the largest airports in China and also the hub of civil aviation in east China.  It is now served by more than 300 air routes and provides services to 88 domestic and overseas cities.  The Pudong(浦東)Airport provides an annual handling capacity of 20 million passengers and 750,000 tons of cargo.

Telecommunications By the end of 2000, there were 3.6 million mobile phone users around the city and the mobile phone penetration rate was 24.5 per cent, which the second highest after Beijing.  The penetration rate for residential fixed line telephones reached 86 per cent in 2000.

Gas Supply To accelerate the country's energy development strategy in coming years, a major gas pipeline with total length of 4,200 kilometres is being built.  The pipeline will start from the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang and ends at Shanghai, passing through Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. 

 


Agriculture:


The relatively small amount of agricultural land within the municipality produces rice, wheat, potatoes, rape seed, soybeans, peanuts, cotton, silk and pears.


 


Industry:


Shanghai is one of the most important industrial bases in China.  In 2000, Shanghai's industrial output reached RMB 691.5 billion, of which, the city's output of steel and motor vehicles reached 17.8 million tons and 253,000 vehicles, respectively, ranking the first and second in China, respectively.      

Other major industries in Shanghai include: electronic and telecommunications equipment, petrochemical other chemical processing, power station equipment and parts and home electrical appliances.    The total output of these main industries increased by 18.7 per cent in 2000 and accounted for 53.6 per cent of the city’s total industrial output.

In 2000, Shanghai's information technology (IT) industry generated RMB 35 billion in value added, representing and increase of 28.8 per cent over 1999.  Major IT products included large-scale integrated circuits, computers and mobile telecommunications equipment.  

Shanghai was chosen as one of the cities to spearhead reforms in the tertiary sector covering banking, retailing, fi­nance, trading and property development.  At present, there are more than 6,000 contracted foreign investment projects in the tertiary sector, operating in areas such as retailing, banking, insurance, trading, shipping and property development.

Shanghai is an important financial centre of China.  The sector expanded at an average annual rate of 16 per cent 1990 to 1999 and its share of Shanghai’s GDP rose from 10 per cent in 1990 to 20 per cent in 1999.

In 1991, the Chinese government authorised foreign banks to open branches in Shanghai for the first time since 1949.  Banks from Japan, the USA, France and Hong Kong have set up representative offices in Shanghai to participate in trade finance business.  Shanghai has more than 50 foreign-funded banks and about 24 of them have licenses to carry out Renminbi business.  

 


Science and Technology:

 


Pudong New Area(浦東新區)

The Pudong New Area was a major focal point for China's economic development strategy for the 1990s.   Pudong has and area of 350 square kilometres located between the Huangpu River and the Yangtze River.  In coming years, Pudong intends to become an international centre of finance, trade, tourism, and conference and exhibition.  In the first quarter of 2001, the real economy of Pudong grew by 15.6 per cent, after a 16.5 per cent growth rate in 2000.

Pudong is divided into three zones, each with a different emphasis: free trade in Waigaoqiao(外高橋), finance in Lujiazui(陸家嘴)and export processing in Jinqiao(金橋).

In 2000, Pudong approved 693 foreign-invested projects with contractual foreign capital of US$2.9 billion.  In Jan-Jun 2001, Pudong reported a 26 per cent rise of foreign trade to reach US$14.3 billion.  Imports rose 22.8 per cent to US$8.7 billion and exports grew by 31.54 per cent to US$5.5 billion.  Japan, US and Hong Kong were among the major trading partners of Pudong.

Shanghai General Motors Corp., a China-US joint venture, established a motor vehicle plant in Pudong.  Major Chinese enterprises such as Chunlan Group in Jiangsu and Shanshan Group in Zhejiang, have also established their technological and information centres in Pudong.  IBM, HP, Intel, Lucent and AMKOR, a major chip assembler, have also set up operations in the free trade zone within Pudong.

Other Economic Development Zones

The Shanghai government has also set up three economic and technological development zones in Minghan, Hongqiao and Caohejing districts.

Minghang zone(閔行is located at the southwest of the city proper.  The zone has developed an industrial base comprising heavy machinery and prefabricated components for civil construction.

Hongqiao zone(虹橋 is located at the western part of Shanghai.  The zone is designated to become a centre of foreign trade, finance and other business services.  The zone has taken a lead in the leasing of land-use rights to foreign investors.

Caohejing zone(漕河涇)is located at the southwestern part of Shanghai.  The zone is intended to become a hi-tech industrial park, producing micro-electronics, optic-fibre communication, computer software and biochemistry..

 


Consumers’ Market:


Shanghai is traditionally an important retail and distribution centre in China.  Its retail sales of consumer goods rose by 8.3 per cent to RMB 172 billion in 2000.  Major consumer centres include Shanghai No. 1 Department Store(上海第一百貨商店)and Shanghai Hualian(上海華聯商廈).  Nanjing Road is called the "The First Chinese Commercial Street"(中華商業第一街)and has become a popular shopping area.

 


Information Sources:

 


Information contained in this page was obtained from:

Hong Kong Trade Development Council (http://www.tdctrade.com).

 

 


Additional Information:


The Chamber is in the process of maintaining regular contact with organisations in the Shanghai.  Please contact us if you require additional information.

 

 


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