Shanghai stands as beacon of reform, innovation, high-quality development
On the shores of the East China Sea, the megacity of Shanghai stands as China's pacesetter in reform and opening-up and a trailblazer in innovative development.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, on Wednesday made an inspection tour of the city.
Covering an administrative area of 6,340.5 square kilometers, Shanghai is home to 24.85 million permanent residents by the end of 2025. In the first quarter of this year, Shanghai's gross domestic product reached 1.35 trillion yuan (199.4 billion U.S. dollars), up 5.9 percent year on year, outpacing the national average.
As China's largest economic hub, Shanghai continues to elevate its status as an international economic center through high-quality development.
Long a vanguard of opening-up, the city has reaped substantial gains in building itself into an international trade hub. Its container throughput has ranked the first globally for 16 consecutive years, and Shanghai has risen to second in global shipping center rankings. Led by the National Innovation Center par Excellence, the city is accelerating toward becoming a globally influential hub of science and technology.
At the same time, Shanghai is also deeply committed to the philosophy of "people's city," advancing urban governance with painstaking precision. It is forging a new path for the modernization of megacity governance with Chinese characteristics.
With the overarching goal of building itself into a modern, socialist, international metropolis with global influence, Shanghai is fully leveraging its leading and exemplary role in advancing Chinese modernization.
