Pudong leader pledges to better serve foreign-invested firms

A retail store of Microsoft in Shanghai [Photo/IC]

Pudong New Area in Shanghai will provide better services and help local foreign-invested companies develop further with a sound business environment, said Weng Zuliang, Party secretary of Pudong during a meeting with Jean-Philippe Courtois, executive vice president and president of Microsoft Global Sales.

As one of the world's largest software makers, Microsoft boasts teams of experienced professionals. Pudong wouldn't be better off without the landing and development of great enterprises like Microsoft, said Wen, noting that they contribute a lot to the economic development of the special district who recorded a gross domestic product last year of over 1 trillion yuan ($145.4 billion) - the first time the GDP has broken this key threshold.

Having been to Pudong ten years ago, Courtois was impressed with how Pudong has turned out today, saying that he looked forward to seeing the overall development of the district over the coming years.

He said that Microsoft has been paying attention to the development of the district since having entered the Chinese market over twenty years ago. In January, the US technology giant announced that its largest artificial intelligence and internet of things lab will be launched in Shanghai's Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park in Pudong New Area in April.

With Beijing as its regional headquarters, Microsoft also has several branches across China including Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. In the future, the company will increase investment in Pudong.

Over the years, Microsoft has grown rapidly in areas of artificial intelligence and cloud computing by actively promoting technological transformation and has speeded up business expansion in Pudong New Area.

The Microsoft Tech Summit 2018 was held in the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center, Pudong.