Move Fast and Build Things: Collaborating and Innovating for Mutual Benefit

Editors Note:

The International Business Leaders' Advisory Council for the Mayor (IBLAC) brings together top executives from leading multinationals to share insights on Shanghai's development strategy. Each company brings forward a paper that draws from its global practices as well as local insights. Shanghai Daily has selected and summarized some of the most insightful recommendations for the city.

The theme of the 2025 International Business Leaders' Advisory Council for the Mayor of Shanghai, "Mutually Beneficial Cooperation," is a timely and appropriate call to action. This age of rapid global change, new technologies, and dramatic demographic shifts demands and drives the need for greater innovation and collaboration to address some of the greatest challenges and opportunities before us.

With almost 130 years of history in Shanghai, Manulife is proud to contribute its perspectives on how mutually beneficial cooperation can support the city's ambition to strengthen its position as an international financial, science, and technology innovation center.

Shanghai continues to raise its profile as a hub for innovation; in 2024, the city was home to 591 foreign-funded research and development (R&D) centers. And it remains steadfast in its commitment to maintain and improve its ability to enable innovation, with measures recently announced to enhance its business environment. We offer the suggestions below to maintain – and advance – the city's edge nationally and globally.

1) Shape policies and regulations to align at the local, national and international level. Continued engagement with industry participants will help Shanghai leverage its considerable influence within and beyond China to promote a policy environment aligned with international standards, setting a level playing field to the benefit of innovation, growth, and greater collaboration with industry.

2) Expand support for international financial institutions. China's first scenario-based cross-border data transfer pilot project is under way in the Lingang Special Area to help streamline regulatory and operational processes for new and emerging sectors. One way to further buttress Shanghai's growing reputation and influence as a global financial hub would be to expand that effort across Shanghai more broadly, inviting participation from sectors like financial services and insurance, and aligning these efforts with key regulators. Taking a more active role in licensing and overseeing finance and insurance companies would also help to demonstrate the city's commitment to financial opening-up and further advance its international reputation.

3) Promote open communication between public and private insurers. For instance, establishing data-sharing mechanisms can help private insurers understand the local market to develop products tailored to the needs of local consumers. Not only does this align with Shanghai's commitment to steadily expand institutional opening-up in the financial sector, it also promotes innovation for mutual benefit, i.e., facilitating the development of insurance solutions that are more aligned with local consumers and are better positioned to support sustainable growth.

4) Facilitate cross-industry collaboration in digital health. With biomedicine and artificial intelligence among Shanghai's leading industries, engaging with health service providers and insurers to explore opportunities to collaborate can drive innovation in the digital health space to better meet the needs and improve the experiences of local customers.

5) Continue investing in training and education. Shanghai's residents – its most valuable resource – should be sufficiently equipped to lead the next high-tech paradigm shift. Such ongoing development efforts can also have the added benefit of attracting and retaining the world-class talent and expertise necessary to leverage the city's existing strengths.

Shanghai is an ideal sandbox for developing, trialling and evaluating innovation. Manulife welcomes Shanghai's recently announced measures to evolve into an international financial hub and we humbly offer our insights and suggestions in the hope of further advancing that effort.

As a financial services company with deep roots and a steadfast commitment to expand our local presence, we are eager to engage with the city government to maintain, and grow, Shanghai's position in the global finance landscape.