From follower to leader

A slew of reform measures launched over the past 30 years has made Shanghai an international metropolis. Many foreign businessmen have viewed Shanghai as a leader in their China business, as the city is at the forefront of implementing new policy and introducing fresh ideas.

American chemicals company Dow has been doing business in China for over 40 years and has a research and development center in Shanghai, which does application development for the rest of the world.

Jon Penrice, president of Dow Asia Pacific, told CGTN that he sees the leadership role Shanghai plays for their businesses in the rest of Asia.

"Shanghai was a follower 10 years ago by making products that are lower cost, and at the end of the market, and everything is around cost engineering. Many developments of the city are [now] geared on high-end products which are more sophisticated," Penrice said.

Penrice believed that digital sustainability and innovation will increase Shanghai's leadership.

The city has played a significant role in developing the digital economy and online economy, especially during a post-COVID-19 world. Shanghai government said digitalization must be deeply integrated into more industries and fields to explore new models and business formats.

An action plan on promoting the development of the online economy has been issued, focusing on 12 key aspects, including unmanned factories, the industrial internet and online health care, aiming to make it a new driver to boost economic recovery after the pandemic.

Ker Gibbs, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, said a lot of digital technologies had adopted very quickly to Shanghai. "Our members learn from that, and some of the things we are doing here can be adapted and used in another market," Gibbs said.

Cheng also said DBS plans to pay more attention to digitalization and expect more favorable policies in this regard.

"Even banking is a very traditional industry; we also need to digitalize our products and services to increase efficiency and improve customers' experience," Cheng said.