30 years of miracles: Shanghai Pudong delivers opportunities to world(2)

REFORM ENGINE

Jens Puttfarcken, president and CEO of Porsche China, said the company would not have been able to offset the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic so rapidly without the help of the local government in Pudong.

The epidemic posed challenges as it hit car sales, disrupted logistics chains, and challenged the resumption of work both for Porsche China and its dealers. However, the company resumed work in time in March with government support.

According to Puttfarcken, the local authorities helped the company locate a large storage venue for some 3,000 cars as its car sales in China dropped temporarily and save 6.5 million yuan (about 919,000 U.S. dollars) in rent for its two retail stores in Pudong.

Puttfarcken said that he recommends more multinational companies to come to China, come to Shanghai and come to Pudong.

Pudong's service-oriented government and reform and opening up initiatives have been exerting a significant influence on the whole country.

Since the establishment of the Shanghai FTZ, more than 120 institutional innovations have been replicated and promoted all around the country.

Even facing the economic pressure brought by the coronavirus outbreak, the Lingang area of the Shanghai FTZ still gained growth momentum, with 7 billion yuan of fixed-asset investment made in the first quarter, an annual increase of 20.5 percent.

Pudong is a bellwether of China's reform, while its Lujiazui financial zone has witnessed the deepening of the country's financial reform. Five foreign financial institutions, including J.P. Morgan Securities (China) Company Limited and Russell Investments Management (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., held online opening ceremonies there in late March.

"Openness is Pudong's distinctive feature and greatest advantage," said Quan Heng, the Party chief of Shanghai Federation of Social Science Associations.