[BIG News] HUGE Changes at City News Service. Click to Read More

Shanghai's New Expat "Super App" Moment Has Arrived

There's a particular feeling you get living in Shanghai long enough.

It's the feeling of knowing the city is always in motion... not just building upwards, but also building outwards. Adding layers. Expanding its vocabulary.

And sometimes, that sense of movement isn't just physical.

Sometimes it's in the air. Especially now... in this lantern-lit pause before the Chinese New Year, when Shanghai feels like it's holding its breath. Next week ushers in the Year of the Fire Horse, a zodiac cycle traditionally associated with intensity, momentum, and big, transformative energy. Horse years aren't known for standing still. Fire Horse years even less so.

Serendipitous Timing?

Maybe that's why the timing feels oddly spot-on this week.

At the 2026 Spring Festival Reception for Chinese and International Journalists, CNS had the chance and the honor to present our vision for CNS 3.0 to a room of more than 300 guests at the International Convention Center in Lujiazui.

And it wasn't exactly a small crowd.

International media. Long-time Shanghai expats. Representatives from all 16 of the city's districts.

A packed room, a big moment, and a clear signal that CNS 3.0 is arriving right on time.

Beyond CNS's looming transformation, the event also brought a couple of noteworthy media launches. Shanghai Global News Network introduced its new platform, China Pulse, and rolled out a project aimed squarely at covering and supporting Chinese companies as they embark on their global expansion ambitions. Cool!

Shanghai's New Expat "Super App" Moment Has Arrived

Shanghai has always been international in image.

A skyline that feels like sci-fi. A history shaped by trade, migration, and reinvention. A city where you can eat Xinjiang barbecue at midnight, sip a Negroni in Xuhui, and order your groceries through an app without ever leaving your apartment.

But internationalization isn't only about aesthetics.

It's also about infrastructure.

It's about whether foreigners living here feel supported, connected, informed... not like temporary guests orbiting the city, but like residents with a place inside it. These past two years, Shanghai has been investing heavily into opening up, becoming more inclusive, and elevating its status as a global city, and City News Service is a byproduct of the city's goals in this regard.

From Media Platform to City Companion

City News Service was launched in 2022 under the guidance of the Shanghai Municipal Government Information Office and operated by Shanghai Daily. At first, it served as a reliable portal for official city information aimed at international audiences, a centralized source in a digital landscape that can often feel fragmented.

But this year, CNS is transforming itself into an all-in-one urban platform, stepping into a much larger role in Shanghai.

CNS is moving beyond the typical media platform tropes, and evolving into a hybrid of:

• Trusted city information

• International community building

• Lifestyle and service integration

In other words: not just telling you what's happening in Shanghai…

…but helping you live here as well.

Community First: A CNS Mandate

Starting with a quote from Captain Obvious "Shanghai is a big city." And with that, comes the demand for connection, for a sense of belonging.

Shanghai can be exhilarating, but it can also be immense. And now CNS stands as a champion to help encourage and foment community in Shanghai.

We're doing that through a number of initiatives this year:

Working with Existing Community Groups:

Whether it's partnering with the 2,000-parent-strong Shanghai Mama's group or the 110-year-old British Chamber of Commerce, CNS is stepping in to promote visibility and encourage growth among the city's existing communities. Do you have a community that wants to partner with CNS? Get in touch!

Tools for Creating and Running Your Own Digital Communities

Built on the nostalgia of Shanghai's old message boards, we created our own to support expats wanting to create and run their own digital communities. We now have 38 up and running. Want to start one of your own? Check out the communities page here. With the foundation built, we plan to expand these social features directly into our mobile APP.

That's not a small thing.

Because belonging isn't built through tourist brochures.

It's built through group chats, shared recommendations, late-night questions, spontaneous meetups, and the comforting realization that someone else has also struggled with the same delivery app interface.

This is Shanghai acknowledging that expat life isn't just about surviving the city... it's also about finding your people in it.

The Shanghai Story, Told by the People Living It

Another major shift in CNS 3.0 is its move toward content co-creation.

What started out as a CORE editorial team that helped pave the way to more than 30 branded columns covering things like food & beverage, nightlife, city figures, guides, listicles, Shanghai secrets, and more, has EXPANDED to include over 10 foreign writers who are now regular contributors to Shanghai's story.

And now we're AMPLIFYING our reach by partnering with more than 100 digital content creators across social media platforms through our SPARK Creator Incubator program. Are you a content creator in Shanghai, and do you want to work together?

Reach out to us through our WeChat account or on Instagram!

For years, expats have documented this city in their own way: through food posts, neighborhood walks, essays about culture shock, videos of rainy nights on Wukang Road.

CNS is now formalizing that energy – opening direct submission channels and encouraging foreign residents to participate in the narrative. CNS is an official city platform.

So... this is Shanghai saying:

>>>We don't just want you here.

>>>We want your voice here.

Toward a Real Expat "Super App"

But perhaps the most intriguing part of CNS 3.0 is what comes next.

Anyone who has lived here knows the daily-life questions that arise:

• Where do I find an English-speaking dentist?
• How do I look for international-friendly jobs?
• What services exist beyond my immediate bubble?
• How do I plug into the city more fully?
• Where can I connect more directly to the city's services (tax bureau, police registration, business registration, visa application status, etc).

We aren't going to give away too much, except to say that CNS is transforming itself to bridge those gaps.

What does this mean?
This means that CNS will be graduating from just being a "media brand" to embedding itself as part of the city's digital infrastructure. Shanghai isn't simply maintaining its global-city status. It's actively investing in it, and CNS is part of this investment.

For those in the back: This is part of a broader push: an urban planning desire to elevate the quality of life for foreigners living in and visiting Shanghai, not as an afterthought, but as part of the city's identity.

And for those of us who call Shanghai home – whether for two years or twenty – that's a hopeful signal.

Because the best version of Shanghai has always been the one that invites the world in… and then gives the world reasons to stay.

As the Fire Horse year arrives with its signature forward-thundering energy, CNS 3.0 is one more sign that Shanghai is inviting us all to be part of its future trajectory, and part of the authors of its grand story.

A very happy New Year to you all!

P.S. This is an open invitation to get in touch with us!