Shanghai's financial industry sees tech transformation

High-rises dominate the skyline on both sides of the Huangpu River in Shanghai. (Photo by Gao Erqiang/China Daily)

Financial industry better-serving technology innovation and industrial transformation, as well as deepened reform of State-owned enterprises, are part of the highlights of Shanghai's economic development last year, according to the municipal government's work report released on Wednesday.

Addressing the country's support for the development of new quality productive forces and the city's goal of better serving technologically advanced companies, the Shanghai International Reinsurance Exchange was launched last year while a special board for companies specializing in niche sectors, commanding high market share and boasting strong innovation capacity started trading in March at the Shanghai Equity Exchange.

By the end of 2024, a total of 1,782 licensed financial service providers were registered in Shanghai. The International Monetary Fund Shanghai Regional Center was launched in June. The balance of inclusive loans for small and micro-sized enterprises jumped 15 percent year-on-year to 1.3 trillion yuan ($180 billion), according to the government work report.

Industrial fund of funds serving the three pioneering industries of integrated circuits, biomedicine and artificial intelligence, as well as industrial funds facilitating the development of future-oriented industries such as brain-computer interface and synthetic biology, were launched in Shanghai last year. It was part of Shanghai's efforts to direct more capital to invest in smaller "hard technology" companies at their earlier development stage, encouraging long-term investment.

Large-scale equipment renewal and application of innovative products in the industrial sector were further expanded in Shanghai last year. A total of 26 major industrial projects, each valued at over 1 billion yuan, started construction in 2024.

Up to 45 square kilometers of inefficient industrial land was upgraded last year. A total of 151 projects were built into high-rise buildings. Up to 10.15 million square meters of intelligent manufacturing space was created in the city.

The reform of State-owned enterprises has been deepening and picking up pace in Shanghai. The merge of Guotai Junan Securities and Haitong Securities announced in September was one best example. Likewise, Shanghai Research Institute of Building Sciences Group Ltd announced in November to acquire a 100 percent stake in Shanghai Investment Consulting Corporation. In March, the municipal government released new measures to encourage Shanghai-based SOEs to accelerate the deployment in strategic emerging industries.