Headquarters economy booms in Pudong

Pedestrians walk by a line of financial institution signs in Lujiazui, a central business district of Pudong New Area, Shanghai. [Photo by Sha Lang/for China Daily]

Pudong New Area, a driving engine of Shanghai's economic development, was home to over 600 corporate headquarters by the end of last year, indicating that the headquarters economy is an important symbol of high-quality development of the special district.

Official statistics reveal that 304 of them, nearly half of the total number in Shanghai, are regional headquarters of multinational conglomerates.

The corporate headquarters contribute more than one-third of Shanghai's annual economic output, said Wang Hua, deputy head of Pudong New Area, adding that the district is one of the most concentrated areas of corporate headquarters in China and forms a diversified headquarters economic ecosystem.

In 2018, Pudong recorded a gross domestic product of over 1 trillion yuan ($145.4 billion) - the first time the GDP had this key threshold. The paid-in investment reached $8.1 billion while the output value of emerging industries accounted for more than 40 percent of the total industrial output above designated size.

General Electric (GE), the world's largest multi-business company with products and services ranging from aircraft engines, locomotives, power generation and oil & gas to media and financial services, has been actively expanding its presence in Shanghai in recent years.

GE's research and development (R&D) center in Zhangjiang now houses 60 world-class laboratories, and has produced more than 1,700 patented technologies, including interoperability analysis software for communication between machines and equipment.

According to the newly released list of global top 100 innovative enterprises, 76 have invested in Pudong, while 100 Fortune Global 500 companies have set up R&D and innovative centers in the district.

Moreover, Pudong is also a hotbed for private corporate headquarters. Juneyao Airlines, a privately-owned Chinese airline based in Shanghai, has outperformed industrial peers regarding profits, flight quality and operating efficiency over the past 12 years since starting operation in 2006, contributing economic revenue of over 5 billion yuan to Pudong.

The growing number of headquarters of multinational and domestic conglomerates and Pudong's allocation of resources mirrors the optimized business environment in the district.

As an effort to provide convenience and professional services for enterprises, Pudong set up a coordination mechanism in 2012 integrating more than 10 departments including customs, market supervision, entry and exit procedures, intellectual property rights, and foreign exchange management, issuing over 100 measures.

Georges Sanchez, head of Fragrance Ingredients Strategic Projects at Givaudan, a Swiss manufacturer of flavors and fragrances, hailed Pudong's business climate as "open, transparent and convenient", saying it helps foreign-funded enterprises to streamline business registration, reduce paperwork and eliminate the need to deal with multiple departments and offices.