Nanhui officials outline new town's future

Nanhui New Town in the Pudong New Area is to become an open, international and futuristic town in the next five years, local officials said on Wednesday.

As the main urban area of the Lingang pilot free trade zone, the 343-square-kilometer town is one of the five “new cities,” along with Jiading, Qingpu, Songjiang and Fengxian, deemed key to Shanghai’s future growth.

Over the next five years, it seeks to become an innovative lake town with high-quality industries, eco-land, digital systems and living-friendly space.

It aims to increase its gross industrial output from 170 billion yuan (US$26 billion) this year to 500 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of over 25 percent.

The total length of bus routes is expected to reach 50 kilometers, while the eco-land coverage will reach 55 percent.

A central urban area with high-density population, multi-functional services and business environment will be laid out around Dishui Lake, surrounded by four innovative industrial parks focusing on cutting-edge technologies. They will be connected by efficient coastal transport networks.

To improve comprehensive functions, a total of 45 measures and 20 key projects are included in terms of business environment, hi-tech research, modern services, talent cultivation, public facilities and cultural industries.

By 2025, at least 10 top science laboratories, 30 innovation platforms and 40 R&D centers are expected to be launched, attracting over 1,000 new hi-tech enterprises.

Three industrial clusters, including integrated circuits, smart new-energy vehicles, high-end equipment manufacturing, artificial intelligence, bio-medicine and civil aviation, will be formed.

A financial bay area will be created around Dishui Lake to attract institutions in cross-border finance, offshore finance and financial technology.

So far this year, 47 bio-medicine and logistics projects have been signed, with a total investment of nearly 44 billion yuan.

More public facilities, including health institutes, nursing homes, and high-quality elementary and high schools supported by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, East China Normal University and Shanghai Normal University, will be opened.