Shanghai leader stresses brand building for city

Skyscrapers line the Bund in Shanghai. [Photo/VCG]

In a promotion meeting held on Tuesday, Shanghai Party Secretary Li Qiang stressed that building the "four brands" of Shanghai – service, manufacturing, consumption and culture – is one of the most important strategic development plans for the city.

In a regular municipal government's meeting at the end of 2017, Li initiated the concept of promoting the "four brands" of Shanghai. In the meeting on Tuesday, he emphasized that the city should take quick action and find the right development direction to ensure that the products and services provided in Shanghai are of first-rate quality and the city is more competitive and influential.

Li further explained that Shanghai's service function should aim at exerting a wider influence, with major efforts put in finance, trade, shipping, economy, and scientific innovation. Services targeting people's daily lives, including education, medicine and tourism, should develop to attract more consumers from all over the country and the world.

As to manufacturing development in Shanghai, Li said that it should be centered on core technology, high-end industrial clusters and reliable quality. In this sense, Shanghai shall grow into the incubator of emerging industries and a center for advanced manufacturing industrial clusters.

Meanwhile, the city should advance the integration between internet technologies and manufacturing. Traditional manufacturing modes should be renewed by adopting new technologies, such as the internet of things and AI, said Li. Traditional brands will then revive and come up with new connotations.

The city will encourage local administrations and companies to set standards stricter than national requirements so that "made in Shanghai" will become synonymous with high quality.

For the consumption sector, the city should take the opportunity of holding the China International Import Expo this November to attract more quality products and services worldwide, as well as competent retailers and buyers. There should be more brands that are highly celebrated both at home and abroad that choose Shanghai as their first destination to release their new products, he said.

More vitality should be injected into the cultural development of Shanghai, Li said. Prestigious artists and industry leaders should gather in the city so that Shanghai can demonstrate its cultural charm.