Shanghai's Huangpu district looks to expand financial cluster

Huangpu district in Shanghai has been ramping up efforts to lure more financial companies and talent from around the world to expand its financial cluster, officials announced at a news conference on Tuesday.

Gao Yun, Party secretary of the district, said that Huangpu has outstanding geographical advantages, developed modern industries and a strong innovation environment that make it an ideal hub for the finance sector.

Despite the smallest district in the city, Huangpu had a GDP of 302.3 billion yuan ($42.18 billion) in 2022, the highest among all downtown districts in Shanghai. Its annual output per square kilometer of 14.73 billion yuan that year was also the highest in Shanghai's downtown districts.

In 2022, the added value of Huangpu district's financial service industry totaled 134.85 billion yuan, and its trading volume of spot gold was the highest in the world, according to official data.

Huangpu district is currently home to six national-level financial trading venues and 721 licensed financial institutions which contribute to about 70 percent of the city's total financial transactions, Gao added.

Since its inception in 2009, the Financial Concentration Belt of the Bund has attracted a multitude of high-level financial institutions, innovative firms and leading professional service providers, said Yang Guowei, director of Huangpu's Financial Service Office.

"One common characteristic of the financial industries across the world is their emphasis on an 'ecosystem', both for financial firms and industrial talents," Yang said.

"In addition to high-level office buildings, we are also rolling out favorable talent policies and measures to help them both settle down in the cluster."

China Universal Asset Management, is among the companies located within this cluster.

Li Wen, chairman of China Universal Asset Management, a leading fund management group, said that the cluster has created favorable conditions for the development of asset management and fintech.

"This cluster brings together many big and diverse players within the industry, such as Haitong and Ant Group. It also provides us with platforms to share resources, complement each other's strengths and seek cooperation," said Li.

"The infrastructure and business environment here has been continuously improved. It now has comfortable offices, good facilities, supportive talent policies and convenient medical and education services, I believe this place will attract even more people, both talents and tourists, within one or two years."

Wang Xin contributed to this story.