The landmark buildings in Pudong New Area, Shanghai. (PHOTO: VCG)

By ZHONG Jianli

There are new changes coming to Shanghai's Pudong New Area, as the already vibrant and innovative hub in China's reform and opening-up endeavor gears up to spearhead the country's surge to modernize.

The general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council recently issued an implementation plan for pilot comprehensive reform in Pudong New Area until 2027. This visionary move grants greater autonomy to Pudong in its high-level reform and opening-up efforts to become a leading area for China's modernization drive.

The plan emphasizes perfecting a high-standard market regulatory system. Based on the national unified market access negative list, special measures will be formulated and implemented in Pudong New Area to create a high-level market access system. It involves exploring a gradual relaxation of foreign access restrictions in sectors such as telecommunications and healthcare services.

Focused on improving the sci-tech innovation system, the plan calls for improving the management systems and resources allocated to sci-tech innovation, including ensuring ongoing input for basic research. It encourages joint high-level research by Chinese and foreign scientists on global technological frontier issues.

The plan also aims to promote cross-border sci-tech innovation cooperation, supporting overseas top universities and research institutions in setting up major forward-looking innovation bases in the area, and encouraging multinational enterprises to establish R&D centers there. Meanwhile, Chinese sci-tech enterprises are supported to establish R&D laboratories overseas, including jointly building R&D centers and laboratories with the Belt and Road Initiative partner countries.

This comprehensive plan further seeks to facilitate financial support for technological innovation, by perfecting the institutional arrangements for capital market financing, IPOs, mergers and acquisitions for high-tech companies, and providing financial services facilitating cross-border technology transactions, including settlement in both Chinese and foreign currencies.

In addition, the plan enhances the protection and utilization of intellectual property rights (IPRs). It stresses the need to advance reforms in IPR adjudication and inspection systems, explore the improvement of IPR protection mechanisms for small and medium-sized enterprises, and foster innovation in commercial secrecy protection rules and guidelines. The plan allows overseas IPR service institutions to establish permanent representative offices in Pudong New Area and engage in cross-border IPR-related business activities.

To attract and gather outstanding talent from around the world, the plan gives Pudong New Area the authority to issue confirmation letters for top foreign experts. This initiative includes supporting eligible foreign professionals to take positions as legal representatives in institutions and enterprises in China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone and its Lingang section, and Zhangjiang Science City. It also allows foreign scientists with permanent residency to lead national sci-tech projects and assume the legal representative role in new-type R&D institutions in Pudong New Area.

In terms of entry and residence convenience for foreign experts, the plan allows invited foreign individuals conducting significant research, exchange, commercial and trade activities in Pudong New Area, to apply for long-term multiple-entry visas.